Letter to the Editor: Better Neighbors LA weighs in on Inglewood Short-Term rental moratorium

Hi 2UrbanGirls,

Can you please publish our testimony on the mayor’s initiative?

Dear Inglewood City Council,

Last Sunday, we saw tragedy unfold at an un-hosted short-term rental in Inglewood.  Four people were murdered in a shooting that the Mayor described as the worst Inglewood has seen in decades.  Better Neighbors LA writes in response to Council Initiative CI-1 imposing a temporary moratorium on short-term rentals (STRs) while the City reviews and adopts proposed amendments to the City’s Municipal Code regarding STRs.  

We urge the City of Inglewood to revise the proposed amendments and adopt an Ordinance to prohibit un-hosted short-term rentals and to regulate and license hosted rentals in the City. Un-hosted STRS pose a threat to the housing affordability and public safety of its communities and Inglewood should curtail their spread.

Better Neighbors LA is a coalition of , tenants, housing advocates, hotel workers, and community members.  We believe that home sharing must be regulated to be sustainable and safe for guests and communities.  Regulations must ensure housing continues to be available to long-term residents and protect affordable rent-controlled housing from being used as dedicated short-term rental units. 

The City of Inglewood has developed quickly over the last few years and is home to the newly renovated Forum, and the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium.  In addition, Inglewood will host various Olympic events in 2028.  These developments have, and will continue to, increase the number of visitors to the City of Inglewood.  As Inglewood increases its capacity to welcome guests, the City must also protect its existing communities, affordable housing, and the safety of residents.  Un-hosted short-term rentals pose a significant threat to sustainable development. 

The City of Inglewood should ban all un-hosted short-term rentals and prohibit short-term rentals in rent-controlled housing. 

Un-hosted short-term rentals, including vacation rentals, are the most likely to take housing off the market and turn it into dedicated tourist housing, accelerate gentrification, and raise rents for all.  Rent-controlled housing, especially, should be used for Inglewood residents, not to house tourists.  The City of Inglewood must protect long-term residents from being priced out of housing by gentrification.

Un-hosted short-term rentals are often used as party houses.  They cause noise disturbances, create trash, monopolize parking, and disrupt the character of our residential communities.  The shooting last weekend, sadly, highlights the grave threat to public safety posed by un-hosted short-term rentals. 

The Inglewood Planning Department first recommended the City of Inglewood prohibit un-hosted short-term rentals in 2018.  Since then, Inglewood has changed its proposed ordinance to not only allow un-hosted short-term rentals, but also allow for vacation rentals to take housing off the market completely.  This is a step in the wrong direction and we urge the Council to adopt stronger regulations in the wake of the tragic shooting that claimed four young lives.

We urge the City of Inglewood to require all short-term rentals be a primary residence and must have a host on-site throughout the rental to ensure guests are supervised.  The City of Inglewood should prohibit all short-term rentals in any rent-controlled housing unit, to ensure affordable housing is used for tenants and not tourists.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.  Better Neighbors LA is happy to serve as a resource to the Inglewood City Council and encourage you to visit our website at betterneighborsla.org to learn more about the impacts of short-term rentals on local communities. 

Respectfully submitted,

Nancy Hanna, Better Neighbors LA