A half-dozen former tenants of a Hollywood neighborhood have dropped their lawsuit in which they alleged the online lodging service Airbnb aided their landlords in ending their tenancies in 2016 so their units could be re-rented in violation of a municipal ordinance.
Dialmar Castanera, Eric Thevenot, Brandy Menefee, Kristen O'Neil, Takako Inamori and Sonja Durham's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed in January 2017 additionally alleged intentional misrepresentation, aiding and abetting in illegal and unfair business practices.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs filed two requests for dismissal of the case on June 15 and Aug. 1. The court papers were unclear on whether a settlement was reached or if the case was not being pursued for other reasons.
In addition to Airbnb, the suit named the plaintiffs' landlords, Belmond Homes LP, and property managers Wiseman Management LLC as defendants.
Airbnb spokesman Nick Papas previously issued a statement in reaction to the lawsuit.
"While we do not comment on pending litigation, we have long opposed landlords who remove housing from the market,'' Papas said. "Airbnb helps ordinary people by allowing them to use their house -- typically their greatest expense -- to generate supplemental income to pay for costs like food, rent, education for their children and we look forward to continuing to work with communities on clear, fair rules of the road.''
The suit stated that all of the plaintiffs rented apartments in the 1300 block of Formosa Avenue long before Belmond Homes acquired the units in February 2016. The property is subject to Los Angeles' rent stabilization ordinance because the property was built before 1978 and has more than two dwellings, the suit stated.
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In March 2016, tenants received notices from Belmond Homes to vacate within four months, according to the suit, which stated all of the occupants left by June 2016 based on their landlord's written notice that the units were being removed from the rental market and the property was being redeveloped.
However, Belmond Homes offered the plaintiffs' former units for rent on Airbnb in July 2016 without first giving notice to the city, the suit alleged. Airbnb thus assisted the landlords in circumventing the city's RSO because the partnership with Belmond Homes allowed for rents to be collected in excess of those allowed by the RSO, the suit alleged.
The RSO also prohibited the offering of a withdrawn unit for rent or lease within two years from its withdrawal without first offering the unit to the previously displaced tenant, according to the suit.
