The Los Angeles City Council has given initial approval to an ordinance aimed at outlawing “vanlording,” the practice of leasing recreational vehicles to unhoused residents on public streets — a phenomenon long visible in Venice and increasingly across the San Fernando Valley.
The measure, introduced by Councilmember Traci Park in 2023, amends city law to explicitly prohibit leasing or renting RVs for residential use in the public right-of-way. The Council voted 13-0 on Sept. 17 to adopt the Public Works Committee report, which recommended amending the city code to add RVs to the list of vehicles that cannot be rented, leased or sold in the public right-of-way.
“This is going to be a really important tool in helping us address that ongoing crisis,” Park said. “It closes a gap in our city’s laws that’s going to have a huge impact on quality of life here. It will prohibit people from leasing those vehicles using our city streets for residential purposes.”
The ordinance imposes escalating civil penalties: $500 for a first violation, $750 for a second within a year, and $1,000 for subsequent offenses. Each day of violation is treated as a separate offense. Under committee amendments, violations could also be prosecuted criminally as misdemeanors, subject to penalties authorized under Section 11.00(m) of the municipal code.
The Public Works Committee, which advanced the measure on Aug. 27, also directed the Los Angeles Police Department to report back on how enforcement will be carried out, including coordination with outreach teams, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, and Council offices, as well as safeguards for people residing in RVs.
Americans are giving up their apartments and moving into their cars. Some are doing it to escape the rent trap and finally have money to actually live. Others have no choice. When someone working three jobs still can’t afford a one bedroom apartment, and millionaires are choosing van life because even they see the system is broken, something has fundamentally shifted in this country. These stories reveal what’s really happening behind the housing crisis headlines. From an 18 year old making it work in a small car to a divorced entrepreneur worth five million dollars who walked away from her mansion, the reasons are different but the message is the same. The old path isn’t working anymore.