He chose not to register his guest house as a short-term rental prior to putting it on AirBnB, even though the law had been on the books for several years before he started. But that doesn't matter, because he allowed this tenant to stay for more than 30 days, so the tenancy was not subject to the short-term rental regulations.
But even before that, he chose not to have his guest house permitted for occupancy, which requires some paperwork and a building inspection. This is probably why he didn't register his guest house as a short-term rental, but it is also the reason he's in this mess, since the lack of an occupancy permit is the reason he can't evict his tenant for nonpayment of rent. (Los Angeles's eviction moratorium ended earlier this year, see https://cityattorney.lacity.gov/tenant-protections)
He also made unpermitted changes to shower (in this context, meaning he failed to get a permit for the shower from the building department before commencing the work), which would have brought it out of compliance with the building code, even assuming it had been properly permitted for occupancy.
If the government’s statements and rules/regulations are to have any internal consistency the building should be condemned until brought up to code, and the tenant evicted for their safety.
The building was up to code. That was not the problem.
The problem is that it was permitted as an ADU, and sons of the work was not permitted, because the owner landlord was too cheap to get the proper permitting. The cure was for him to get the proper permitting, which the article makes clear he had yet to do.
He chose not to register his guest house as a short-term rental prior to putting it on AirBnB, even though the law had been on the books for several years before he started. But that doesn't matter, because he allowed this tenant to stay for more than 30 days, so the tenancy was not subject to the short-term rental regulations.
But even before that, he chose not to have his guest house permitted for occupancy, which requires some paperwork and a building inspection. This is probably why he didn't register his guest house as a short-term rental, but it is also the reason he's in this mess, since the lack of an occupancy permit is the reason he can't evict his tenant for nonpayment of rent. (Los Angeles's eviction moratorium ended earlier this year, see https://cityattorney.lacity.gov/tenant-protections)
He also made unpermitted changes to shower (in this context, meaning he failed to get a permit for the shower from the building department before commencing the work), which would have brought it out of compliance with the building code, even assuming it had been properly permitted for occupancy.