Here in Los Angeles, a story about an Airbnb guest who took advantage of an unsuspecting owner to occupy his guest house for more than a year and a half without paying and now wants $100,000 to leave demonstrates the perils of renting out your property via Airbnb or similar platforms, particularly in cities like Los Angeles with very strict protections for tenants.
Airbnb Scammer Squats In Palatial Los Angeles Home For Over 500 Days
Elizabeth Hirschhorn is a fraudster. The Harvard-educated woman appears to rent accessory dwelling units (ADUs) from unsuspecting homeowners then find a way to squat in them without paying. Such a pattern of practice is called FRAUD.
Hirschhorn was renting in Oakland prior to the pandemic then used the pandemic (California’s shelter-in-place order) as a basis not to pay rent. Eventually, she was kicked out in 2021, only to wind up in Brentwood two months later.
She cut a deal with a Dutch dentist named Sascha Jovanovic to rent his guest home in September 2021 for six months at a rate of $105 a night (with taxes and fees, the total was $20,793).
A few months in, Hirschhorn complained about the electric blinds not working. Jovanovic entered the unit to repair them and noticed water damage and signs of mold around her sink…something Jovanovic claims was not present before she moved in.
He then offered to pay for a five day stay at a local hotel in Santa Monica (at the Santa Monica Hilton or the Sure Stay Best Western) or provide $1,500 toward the hotel of her choice while his contractor handled the repairs. But Hirschhorn was not interested, writing back:
“I don’t feel safe being forced to vacate with a housing disability and the high risks of COVID-19 complications.”
That housing disability is “extreme chemical sensitivities.” She also cited the COVID-19 Tenant Protections Resolution that was in effect in LA Country to assert that she could not be forced even to temporarily vacate her dwelling.
Jovanovic made many mistakes, but one was allowing her to stay beyond her six-month rental period. By this time, she had made clear that she was not going to leave or let anyone in, but email correspondence shows Jovanovic agreed to give her extra time (though April 12, 2023) to find an alternate dwelling.
His bigger mistake was failing to obtain the proper permits to use a portion of his property as an Airbnb.
Hirschhorn started digging around, as she did with the Oakland property, and found that the City of Los Angeles had never approved the guest house for occupancy (an occupancy certificate is required to rent it out) and also that its shower was constructed without obtaining a permit.
That stopped Jovanovic’s eviction action until the property was brought in compliance with zoning codes. But Hirschhorn would not let anyone in to bring the shower into compliance. A judge sided with Hirschhorn, saying he had no right to remove the tenant.
Now we are at a point in which Jovanovic is suing Hirschhorn to recoup $58,000 in unpaid rent and separately to appeal the judicial decision to dismiss the eviction case.
But Hirschhorn filed a countersuit in August, accusing Jovanovic of 15 violations including negligence, nuisance, intentional infliction of emotional distress (yes, even that…), unlawful business practices, and a violation of the LA County COVID procedures.
Her crooked lawyer Colin Walshok is asking for $100K to make the matter go away:
“$100,000 is his cheapest way of getting of the whole ordeal…
“It is the home of the tenant until the landlord gets a judgment, however distasteful that is to your client.
“The landlord broke the law and tried to make money by renting out an illegal bootleg unit.”
Jovanovic’s attorney, Sebastian Rucci, argues:
“This isn’t about one ruling, it’s about the entire foundation. If she’s right, you can rent an Airbnb for two days and refuse to leave on the third, unless the landlord pays you to leave…
If she’s right, the theory is that if a landlord has something that isn’t permitted, then you can stay in it rent-free forever.”
This is not my legal area of expertise, but it does not make sense to me why she has any right to be in the building if there is no valid lease agreement (because the property was not leasable in the first place). Under what strained logic can someone claim they do not have to pay rent and can squat because a dwelling is not within code compliance and then refuse to let the landowner make the necessary repairs?
The court has not ruled in favor of Hirschhorn, but it has ruled against Jovanovic. He has also been fined for not bringing the guest house up to code, even though he cannot forcibly enter it without opening himself up to more charges of impropriety from Hirschhorn.
How I Would Deal With A Squatter
This is not legal advice, but we know the guest house is not up to code. Is the wiring safe? Has it been inspected recently by the city or a licensed electrician? I’d shut off the power out of an abundance of caution. Since some molds are toxic and mold is growing in the house, I’d shut off the water. Out of an abundance of caution and for her own safety, of course.
Practically, Jovanovic needs to man up, not just lawyer up. A landlord can give 24-hours advance notice and then forcibly enter a rental unit (LACC 19.54). Hirschhorn can protest till she turns blue, but cannot stop him from entering. This should have been done over a year ago…
I’d make the necessary changes and then attempt to proceed with the formal eviction process.
I love this way of dealing with a squatter, but it appears that may be legally suspect in the City of Angels:
CONCLUSION
Jovanovic made many mistakes. Cutting corners and not obtaining proper permits was just plain stupid. Even so, I am firmly on Jovanovic’s side here and agree with his attorney that the precedence of being able to use a zoning violation to avoid rent and refuse to leave is deeply distressing for homeowners in the Golden State.
I hope that Hirschhorn is forced to pay up for her fraud and warned that if she continues this pattern of practice she’ll wind up in a free apartment known as the jail.
image: Sascha Jovanovic / Airbnb
LA County has been falling apart for years – no protection for those who abide by the law, but full protection for criminals. One of the reasons why we are happy to live in South OC now.
And let’s not even start on the debacle that is SF when it comes to “renters rights”. Or, more aptly, the “f*** landlords, coming and going” laws. And that’s independent of allllll the other crap SF has come to represent in the past decade. I’m a native San Franciscan who had to leave because, no matter how blue/liberal I may be, even SF was too much.
You have no idea on what you are talking about, and regurgitating right wing media talking points. If you want to get political, let’s talk about facts. LA & SF have lower crime and homicide rates than most major cities in Florida & Texas. Specifically, their murder and crime rates are significantly lower than major cities in ‘red’ states like Miami, Dallas & Jacksonville. Significantly higher.
You just don’t see your ‘friends’ at Fox & NewsMax sharing those facts.
In addition, as a ‘super’ and ‘plus’ host in Venice, CA, the individual who listed this AirBnb made several mistakes that opened the door for this grifter. She just leveraged off of basic rules that exist to protect renters all over America. Not just in LA. Sounds like the behavior of another grifter currently running for President of the US, and running from the law.
Personally, we have only had one AirBnb guest in over 8 years that we wanted evicted. And that was after 2 nights of a 10 night stay. We had no problems evicting him, and the police department of LA was ready and willing to help.
It’s hard for people with small and narrow minds to comprehend that in most cases there are legitimate and necessary reasons laws are put in place. And not just to create sound bites for propagandists to manipulate those unable to think for themselves.
Just another day in the life of “The Failed State.” That great 1990 film, Pacific Heights, turned out to actually be a documentary and its script, a cookbook.
You mean the 5th largest economy in the world? Someone is drinking the maga koolaid
Rational people call what you call “Koolaid” reality and factual information.
Keep being braindead.
Great pic of Hirschhorn together with Santastico
The article is completely off-base. It’s not a code issue, it’s the fact that the dwelling is not a lawful dwelling. Without a certificate of occupancy, the dwelling is not certified for habitation. So the landlord is seeking landlord protections (the eviction process) for a lease that’s invalid because there’s no dwelling to be leased. The courts aren’t going to uphold anyone’s rights for an invalid lease. Courts are there to uphold the law, not uphold unlawful contracts.
This is what happens when you don’t do things correctly. To be clear this is not a house (that has a certificate of occupancy) and there was an off-permit update to a bathroom. This is an entire dwelling (guest house) that’s not been verified as suitable for habitation, which is a prerequeisite for a certificate and ultimately a lease.
None of this has to do with AirBnB, California, Los Angeles, tenants rights, or any of that. It all comes down to the tenant doing something unlawful and as a result of not doing things lawfully, he does not having the recourse (eviction process, courts, etc.) that ordinarily would be available to him, had he done things lawfully.
While the tenant appears to be operating in bad faith, the owner is stuck because he cut a serious corner and ran into a tenant who knows how to use the law against him.
Thanks for your comment.
You seem to miss the forest in the trees. I don’t disagree with your analysis, but it is incomplete.
The owner should not be in limbo. If the tenant enjoyed tenant protection than he should at least have a clear path to landlord protection based upon the de facto nature of the relationship.
You seem to gloss over the fact that the City of LA (zoning) has determined that the tenant has a right to remain and that cannot be separated from his foolish decision not to properly obtain a certificate of occupancy for his guest house. This is an LA issue, a California issue, and a tenant rights issue.
If there is no lease then there is no valid tenant and she should be thrown out immediately – no one should be allowed to live in a structure that has not been certified for habitation.
The landlord does have a path to landlord protection. If he gets the certificate that he neglected to get, then he is a valid landlord for a valid agreement that has enforceability.
If the City were to evict her as you described, any landlord could be negligent like this one and use their own negligence to claim a lease was invalid. That would actually encourage landlord negligence. The law is designed deliberately, to ensure the landlord does their part to ensure acommodations are valid.
If he does what he needs to do, then he’ll be able to use the landlord protections available to him. He’s going to have to incentivize her somehow to allow the modifications and inspection, then he can evict her. But she also knows how to play this.
There’s really no defense for the landlord. He messed up bigly.
@UncleJeff … the landlord does own the land , after all . Can’t he kick her off his land ?
I’d be interested in the contractor agreement the landlord reached to construct the bathroom. I can hire someone to finish my basement and if he says he’s going to get permits and doesn’t then what? It’s probably still on me to verify that permits were obtained.
And I agree that if the tenant has tenant rights then where are the land owner’s rights? If the property wasn’t valid for rental then are there really tenant rights? Seems it’d be easier to kick the tenant to the curb in that case. And entry to the property with 24 hours notice, again, if it’s not an actual apt under an actual valid contact then is this even a thing?
This is all sorts of messed up. Where is Airbnb’s liability here? I don’t know their contracts but don’t they verify that the place they’re advertising is legal? Seems like a risky business model if they’re not.
I have a legal ADU that I lease a year at a time. But I don’t live in California. I had to pay a separate impact fee to my city when I built it. But I did and it’s legal. Having protections as a landlord is very important to me. I feel very badly for this guy, the squatter leaves soon
Is the place Fireproof?” Just wondering.
Harvard grads, am I right? That’s why an A at Harvard would mean a B at Princeton.
It’s a joke we always said during undergrad if anyone got offended.
All jokes aside, there are lots of cases like this in CA and it takes forever to get to court so the squatter ends up spending more time squatting. Also, it’s like a 50-50 shot of winning for a property owners from what I’ve heard from friends who are real estate attorneys there because the conditions of a squatter getting evicted are rather strict.
@Malik … an A from U.S.C. means “relaxed practical learning” ; a B from ivy league means “depth without learning”. A U.S.C. owner would bring in the fraternity brothers to move out all her possessions , packed neatly , whilst she goes to market . Problem solved .
Just hire an L.A. gang to do something to the place. Just kidding.
You don’t worry about libel using the term “her crooked lawyer “ then naming him?
I’m not being critical of you saying it, just inquisitive.
You obviously know more about these things than I do
Crooked is a character judgment.
Isn’t that still libel?
“ It is unlawful for someone to state you’ve acted unethically or dishonestly if it is defamatory.”
Why wouldn’t the statement fall under this?
Again, not being argumentative, just curious since I’ve started blogging and I’m trying to understand such laws.
The attorney is a public figure and it would be impossible for him to prove actual malice because there is none.
Ok thanks. Reminds me of that old movie “Absence of Malice”.
Thanks for taking the time to educate me.
Does the maxim of ‘clean hands’ not apply in this case? Surely a judge ought to dismiss any lien brought by the claimant as they have stayed beyond the agreed rental agreement knowingly?
Mandatory – not from the U.S., and no idea what CA law may say on this issue.
Anything that brings about negative publicity for AirBNB must be a good thing- and I am surprised that they aren’t being sued for advertising a property which is arguably unfit for human habitation.
Hotels have to comply with hundreds and hundreds of pages of regulations, and someone can start competing with them just by downloading an app and then go on to expose unsuspecting travellers to the risk of their apartment keys having been copied by criminals ( https://metro.co.uk/2021/06/17/airbnb-has-secret-clean-up-team-to-keep-horror-stays-out-of-the-press-14785612/amp/ ). I am not totally opposed to the idea of the ‘gig economy’ in general, but there’s certainly nothing ‘free market’ about having suppliers complete on such an unequal basis.
This would never happen in any Latin American country. Just saying.
It might do in Chile or Uruguay.
so the dwelling is not up to code but he cannot bring it up to code because of her… it’s her fault for not cooperating ,,100k relocation is absolutely ridiculous demands.
She had to come up with a plan since student loan interest payments are starting up again
This is part of the rental crisis. I know someone that was fed up and stopped renting their place. Too much red tape and risks and people will use the entire property themselves rather than rent it out..
Poor Elizabeth is a fraudulent b!tch. Isn’t she aware of karma? My advice to her is to stop the nonsense and to watch her back.