City May Take Rental Subpoena Evaders to Court

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The Malibu City Council next week will look to City Attorney Christi Hogin to flex the city’s legal muscle when it comes to subpoenaing area short-term rental websites.

The city is seeking to dissuade short-term rental websites, such as AIRBNB and VRBO, from renting out properties in Malibu neighborhoods by collecting unpaid transient occupancy tax.

The subpoenas, which were approved and sent out in May, appear to have received a tepid response from the sites in question. However, time remains for legal representatives for the websites to respond to the City’s demands.

According to the subpoenas, which were provided by city staffers, sites have until Aug. 8 to deliver requested documents to Assistant City Manager Reva Feldman.

The subpoenas, signed by Mayor Skylar Peak, City Clerk Lisa Pope and approved by Assistant City Attorney Trevor Rusin, do allow for representatives of those websites who do not comply to appear in person. If the documents are not submitted by Friday, Aug. 8, representatives are “ordered to appear in person and produce true and correct copies of the documents,” according to the subpoenas, at the Aug. 11 City Council Meeting.

The agenda for the meeting scheduled for Monday, Aug. 11, includes an item calling for Council to enact resolutions “authorizing the City Attorney’s Office to report violations of legislative subpoenas to the Los Angeles County Superior Court.”