San Diego ordinances regulating short-term rentals are not discriminatory, a federal judge ruled on June 13, mostly ending a legal battle between the city and the Short Term Rental Alliance of San Diego over the rules. U.S. District Judge M. James Lorenz also found the rules do not violate the Fair Housing Act or the U.S. Constitution after the nonprofit argued they limited the ability of low-income, Black and Hispanic people with large families to access beaches. Lorenz dismissed much of the case and remanded the rest of it back to California state court. The lawsuit stems from a city ordinance passed in San Diego in 2021 to create a tiered licensing system to regulate short-term rental units. San Diego later also enacted a second ordinance clarifying those rules.
Courthouse News Service (06/13/23) Sam Ribakoff