Short-term rental market, or at least advocates in the space, may have gotten a win. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Beaudet has deemed that a local apartment owner is not breaking city law by leasing units on a short-term basis. City attorney Mike Feuer brought a civil suit against Venice Suites LLC for leasing units in a Venice apartment building for less than 30 days. Some celebrated the decision as a win for the short-term rental market—where units are rented as pseudo hotel rooms on a short-term basis—but others say that impact might be minimal because of the details of the case. We sat down with Andrew Starrels, a partner at Holland & Knight, to talk about the case and the potential impacts.

GlobeSt.com: What was your reaction to the decision that this was not an illegal hotel? Legally, were you surprised by the decision?

Andrew Starrels: Based on the media reports, the decision—and there has not been a final judgment in the case yet—seemed far-reaching. Going deeper, I'm not at all sure there will be much widespread impact. The ruling responded to summary judgment motions brought by both the project owner and the L.A. City Attorney on the issue of short term rentals in this particular building, and the judge ruled in favor of the building owner: that short term rentals at that building were permissible. This will not be the end of the case, however, as some claims about the owner's activities remain for trial. Moreover, it is not at all clear that this will apply throughout the City because of the particular facts of this case.