La Park La Brea A LLC v. Airbnb, Inc.

285 F. Supp. 3d 1097
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedDecember 29, 2017
DocketCase No. CV 17–4885 DMG (AS)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 285 F. Supp. 3d 1097 (La Park La Brea A LLC v. Airbnb, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
La Park La Brea A LLC v. Airbnb, Inc., 285 F. Supp. 3d 1097 (C.D. Cal. 2017).

Opinion

DOLLY M. GEE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

I.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Currently before the Court is Defendants Airbnb, Inc.'s and Airbnb Payments, Inc.'s (collectively, "Airbnb") motion to dismiss ("MTD") [Doc. # 16] or, in the alternative, motion to strike ("MTS") [Doc. # 17].1 Plaintiffs La Park La Brea A LLC, La Park La Brea B LLC, La Park La Brea C LLC, and Aimco Venezia, LLC's (collectively, "Aimco") first amended putative class action complaint ("FAC") raises several state law causes of action related to short-term rentals of Aimco properties on Airbnb's website that purportedly violate Aimco's lease agreement with its tenants. [Doc. # 1-1.]

Airbnb seeks dismissal of the FAC in its entirety on the following grounds: (1) all *1100claims are barred by the Communications Decency Act ("CDA"), 47 U.S.C. § 230 et seq. ; and (2) the FAC fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. In the alternative, Airbnb seeks to strike the FAC's class definition.2

While the MTD and MTS were pending, Aimco filed a motion for preliminary injunction and a motion for expedited discovery. [Doc. # 23, 41.]

For the reasons set forth below, the motion to dismiss is GRANTED . In light of the Court's ruling on the motion to dismiss, the Court DENIES as moot the motion to strike, motion for preliminary injunction, and motion to expedite discovery.

II.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. Aimco

Aimco owns and operates apartment buildings in Los Angeles County. FAC at ¶¶ 1-4, 24. It qualifies each prospective tenant through a lease application process and requires each approved tenant to execute a standard form lease. Id. at ¶ 26. Every tenant's lease includes an anti-subleasing clause.3 Id. at ¶ 27. Aimco's standard form lease provides:

ASSIGNMENT. Resident shall not sublet the Apartment or assign this Lease for any length of time, including, but not limited to, renting out the Apartment using a short term rental service such as Airbnb.com, VRBO.com or homeaway.com. Any purported assignment or sublet of this Lease or the Apartment Home without the prior written consent of Landlord is null and void.

Id. at ¶ 27.

B. Airbnb

Airbnb provides an online marketplace for both short-term and long-term housing accommodations wherein "hosts" lease or sublease their living space to "guests." Id. at ¶¶ 5, 10-12. Prospective hosts must "sign up" with Airbnb and create a listing for the available space that then becomes publicly viewable to prospective guests. Id. at ¶ 12. The listings usually do not disclose hosts' real names or apartment numbers, which makes it hard for Aimco to enforce lessees' anti-assignment clause. Id. at ¶ 44.

Rather than charge fees for publishing hosts' listings, Airbnb collects commissions from both hosts and guests for booked accommodations. Id. at ¶¶ 13-14. To encourage and facilitate booking, Airbnb verifies personal profiles and listings; maintains a messaging system for hosts and guests; collects and transfers booking payments; offers free professional photography to hosts; calculates, collects, and remits local occupancy taxes on hosts' behalf in some jurisdictions; offers a "smart pricing" tool that automatically adjusts prices to match demand; provides a $1,000,000 "host guarantee" in the event of property damage; provides "Host Protection Insurance" for third-party claims against hosts and landlords for both property damage and bodily injury; and reimburses guests in the event of a "travel issue" such as hosts' failure to provide guests reasonable *1101access to the accommodation. Id. at ¶¶ 15-20.

Airbnb generally refuses property owners' requests that Airbnb cease engaging in rental transactions with tenants whom Airbnb learns are violating their leases by engaging in short-term rentals. Id. at ¶ 23. "Aware of growing concerns among property owners and residential communities regarding illegal subleasing activity and disruptive guest behavior," Airbnb launched the "Friendly Buildings Program," which is directed at homeowner's associations ("HOAs") and owners of multi-unit residential buildings. Id. In exchange for being "friendly," i.e. , allowing rentals through Airbnb, the program provides participating HOAs and multi-unit property owners a commission on Airbnb activity within their communities, as well as tools to oversee and manage those rentals, none of which is available to non-participants. Id. at ¶ 23

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Bluebook (online)
285 F. Supp. 3d 1097, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/la-park-la-brea-a-llc-v-airbnb-inc-cacd-2017.