Malibu Short-Term Rental Ordinance

The City of Malibu has been discussing the regulation of Short-Term Rentals for nearly 4 years without taking action. Residents are demanding that City Council act in accordance with Malibu’s Mission / Vision Statement and City Council Policy #15 which states: "The general welfare of the City’s residents shall always be considered as primary to any special interests of any individual or group of individuals or the interests of any individual elected or appointed City official.”

The Malibu Road Homeowners’ Association, along with several other neighborhood associations, now ask the City Council to:

1. Pass an ordinance that copies the Santa Monica Homesharing Ordinance. The Santa Monica ordinance prohibits commercialized “whole unit STRs” by limiting short-term rentals to primary residences where the owner or operator (host) is on-site while the guests are in occupancy.
   
   The Santa Monica Ordinance has been upheld in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in March of 2019. The HSO was upheld again under judicial review in August 2019, and again for a third time October 3, 2019 when the Court of Appeals denied a class action suit by hosts.
2. The Ordinance must include provisions that address the following:
   1. All Short-term Rental Platforms and their subsidiaries must be treated equally. All Platforms are required collect and remit the Transient Occupancy Tax to the City. The failure of a Platform to collect and remit taxes and fees shall not relieve an owner of the obligation to pay taxes and fees.
   2. Platforms must take down non-permitted or non-compliant listings within 7 days upon written notification by the City*
   3. Create an STR Registry requiring dual permits for primary residents (single family) and multifamily buildings. One permit for the owner (primary resident) of the dwelling unit and a second permit for an operator. An owner can be the operator or may designate a third party to be the operator. Both owners and designated operators must register directly with the City and attain a valid permit before offering any residence as a Short-Term Rental and are required to include the permit number in all listings. Designated operators are limited to one permit with a sole exception for the operators of large multifamily permits; where the designated operator is responsible for more than one unit.
   4. In order to satisfy the published guidelines of the California Coastal Commission, short-term rentals will be allowed in multifamily buildings but are limited to (1) unit per building of up to 5 units. Large Multifamily Buildings of (6) or more units are limited to 20% of total units.
   5. Create a budget requiring the City to use revenue from the TOT to cover the costs of two dedicated compliance officers and enforcement of the STR Ordinance.
   6. Prohibit all events, parties, and commercial use during guest use of the short-term rental. No special event permit or film permit shall be obtained for an event occurring at dwelling unit during any period of guest occupancy*

*Item (b) is from the Boston and items (c) and (e) are from the New Orleans ordinance