The viral epic surrounding an Airbnb rental gone wrong in Brentwood, in Los Angeles county, has seemingly come to a close after 570 days, though the legal battle may continue. Elizabeth Hirschhorn has vacated the property owned by Brentwood resident Sacha Jovanovic, where she had been living rent-free since September 2021.
Hirschhorn’s stay on Jovanovic’s property began as a typical Airbnb agreement, with Hirschhorn taking up an agreed-upon six-month residence in Jovanovic’s guest house. However, the stay was extended from there.
Hirschhorn claims that because her stay was extended in an agreement outside of Airbnb, the unit became subject to LA County’s Rent Control Ordinance. Therefore, she could not be removed from the property without a formal eviction process. She additionally did not pay rent during this time, arguing that it was not required because Jovanovic had not secured an occupancy license for the additional building on his property.
As of this writing, the lawsuits that Hirschhorn and Jovanovic filed against one another are ongoing. The original story about Hirschhorn’s stay on Jovanovic’s property went viral after it was reported by news media. There have since been follow-up stories and additional coverage. On Friday, November 3rd, Jovanovic was at the house and in the process of providing an interview for a documentary about the drama when three men arrived and entered the guest house.
The men did not initially tell Jovanovic why they were on his property, so he called the police. When the police arrived, it was found that these men were removing Hirschhorn’s belongings from the guest house so she could vacate. The police escorted Hirschhorn and the men off the property. Afterward, Jovanovic and his attorney entered the guesthouse to find that it had been emptied. They quickly had the locks changed so that Hirschhorn could not return.
Hirschhorn’s attorney has since stated that Jovanovic violated the law by entering the unit without Hirschhorn’s permission and by changing the locks. Jovanovic’s attorney has said that in the case that a tenant abandons a unit, their claim is immediately dismissed, and Hirschhorn no longer has any legal right to return.
Jovanovic’s attorney has also stated that they hope to be able to drop one of the pending lawsuits, which is an unlawful detainer lawsuit, but intend to continue pursuing damages of roughly $58,000 for unpaid rent during Hirschhorn’s stay. For Hirschhorn’s part, she has accused Jovanovic of harassment and intimidation, which she says were illegal attempts to convince her to vacate the property.
During Hirschhorn’s stay, mold damage inside the guesthouse had become a subject of conflict between them. Jovanovic plans to address this damage in the near future, as well as to acquire the missing permit that was the subject of Hirscchorn’s legal claim for rent-free residence.
However, Jovanovic does not intend to rent the space out again soon. In the short term, he plans to convert the space into a recreation room for his adolescent children. He has stated that he wants to reclaim the guesthouse as a family space.
