La Park La Brea A LLC v. Airbnb, Inc.
285 F. Supp. 3d 1097 (2017)
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Rule of Law:
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) immunizes interactive computer service providers from liability for claims that treat them as the publisher of third-party content, even when the provider facilitates transactions based on that content and is aware of its potential illegality.
Facts:
- Aimco owns and operates apartment buildings, requiring all tenants to sign a standard lease that explicitly prohibits subletting, including through short-term rental services like Airbnb.
- Airbnb operates an online platform where users ('hosts') can create and publish listings for short-term housing accommodations.
- Airbnb provides various ancillary services to facilitate transactions, including payment processing, a messaging system, host insurance, and optional professional photography, collecting a commission on each booking.
- Numerous Aimco tenants used Airbnb's platform to list their apartments for short-term rentals, in direct violation of their leases.
- The short-term rentals resulted in noise, property damage, and other disturbances, causing Aimco to incur costs for increased security, repairs, and legal proceedings.
- Aimco contacted Airbnb, informed them that listings for its properties violated its leases, provided a copy of the lease agreement, and requested that Airbnb remove the listings and cease processing such transactions.
- After initially suggesting it could help, Airbnb stated it does not mediate private contract disputes between hosts and property owners and declined to remove the listings.
- Airbnb continued to allow new and existing listings for Aimco properties on its platform and to process payments for the rental of those units.
Procedural Posture:
- Plaintiffs (Aimco) filed a putative class action complaint against Defendants (Airbnb) in California state court.
- Airbnb removed the action to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
- Aimco filed a First Amended Complaint asserting various state law claims.
- Airbnb filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim, arguing that the Communications Decency Act preempts all claims.
- In the alternative, Airbnb filed a motion to strike the class action allegations.
- Aimco subsequently filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and a motion for expedited discovery.
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Issue:
Does Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act immunize an online rental marketplace from state law claims arising from its users posting listings that facilitate the violation of their residential lease agreements?
Opinions:
Majority - Gee, J.
Yes. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act immunizes Airbnb from Aimco's claims because the claims fundamentally treat Airbnb as the publisher of content created by its users. Applying the three-part test for CDA immunity, the court found that (1) Airbnb is an interactive computer service; (2) Aimco's claims, despite being framed as challenges to Airbnb's conduct (like processing payments), are inescapably rooted in the publication of the tenants' rental listings; and (3) the tenants, not Airbnb, are the 'information content providers' responsible for creating the unlawful listings. The court reasoned that Airbnb's transactional functions and other ancillary services are merely 'neutral tools' that facilitate user activity and do not transform Airbnb into a co-developer of the illicit content. Therefore, even with knowledge of the lease violations, Airbnb is shielded from liability.
Analysis:
This decision significantly reinforces the broad immunity granted to online platforms under CDA Section 230. It clarifies that immunity extends beyond merely hosting content to actively facilitating and profiting from transactions based on that content. The court's rejection of the plaintiff's attempt to distinguish between publication and conduct ('creative pleading') establishes a strong precedent against holding platforms like Airbnb liable for the unlawful activities of their users. This ruling makes it more difficult for third parties, such as landlords, to compel online marketplaces to police their platforms for content that facilitates illegal or contract-breaching conduct, placing the onus on the third party to pursue the individual user.
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