'Bespoke' company sued by L.A. over party house blowouts

Two people sit facing each other as video camera operator records them.

Staff Writer

Aug. 15, 2023 5:16 PM PT

A company that offers luxury “party houses” for short-term rentals is being sued by the Los Angeles city attorney over its house-shaking and sometimes violent get-togethers that the L.A. official says violate city law and create a public nuisance.

City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto sued the Nightfall Group and its owner, Mokhtar Jabli, on Thursday, alleging that police have been called more than 250 times in the last two years because of problems at houses that the business rents out in the Hollywood area alone.

“These party houses have deleterious and serious effects on the quality of life for our city,” Feldstein Soto said. “They disrupt communities, violate noise ordinances until the wee hours of the morning, clog evacuation routes, and take valuable housing off the market. I expect this is the first of the enforcement actions we will need to bring.”

The Beverly Hills-based company — which claims to have a real estate portfolio worth north of $1 billion — advertises itself as a “bespoke U.S. travel concierge and luxury rentals company” offering up villas and luxury cars to “high-net-worth individuals seeking the glamor of worldwide jet-set destinations such as Los Angeles, Monaco, Miami, Dubai, Ibiza, and Saint Barthélemy.”

But the company does not offer the same pleasure package to neighbors of its rental homes. Residents of the Hollywood Hills who live near the Birds Villa on Hopen Place, for example, found themselves stuck in their homes during a “particularly large party,” the complaint alleges.

“Two neighbors tried to escape music so loud it made their house shake, only to find their driveway and street completely blocked by partygoer traffic, trapping them in their home,” attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.

Beyond the violation of noise ordinances, the complaint says that Nightfall violates the city’s short-term-rental laws, which limit homeowners to renting out only their main residence — where they live at least half the year — to nonresidents for 30 days or fewer annually.

Nightfall charges as much as $16,000 per night for hundreds of properties in Los Angeles, Feldstein Soto said.

The party houses associated with Nightfall were well known to the city before the lawsuit was filed as police became quite familiar with the constant parties thrown in the Hollywood area.

One Hollywood police officer, Brett Cohen, who has handled Hollywood Hills party complaints, said in the lawsuit that he’d reviewed call logs and realized the Hollywood Division had responded to 95 calls for service over a three-year period at just six addresses associated with Nightfall.

It wasn’t just noise complaints, either.

On June 21, 2022, officers responded to two calls of an assault with a deadly weapon at 8356 Sunset View Drive, according to a declaration filed by Cohen. That was just two of the 25 complaints of parties and noise violations at the address over the three-year span.

At 1307 Sierra Alta Way, officers responded to a call regarding an assault with a deadly weapon on Feb. 13, 2022, Cohen said.

Despite 31 calls to police regarding parties at the Birds Villa, Jabli told police in November 2022 that it was not a recurring issue, according to Cohen.

“I called and spoke with Jabli, who informed me that the party was a one-time thing,” Cohen said, “that it got out of hand, and that it wouldn’t happen again.”

But the next month, Cohen responded to yet another party at the residence, where he heard amplified music and saw about 50 partygoers outside the home. He wrote up a nuisance letter and sent a citation to the owners, he said.

Parties were still being thrown at the residence as of last month, Cohen said.

Jabli was described in an advertorial run by L.A. Weekly as the embodiment of the American dream. The article claims that Jabli went from “homeless to multimillionaire.”

The Moroccan-born entrepreneur moved to California in 2016 and struggled, renting out his apartment and living on the streets to make ends meet, he says on his personal website.

“It all started with a dream of an ambitious teenager looking for a better life,” said Jabli in the article. “Growing up, I constantly saw wealthy individuals flaunting fancy cars, homes, and other luxuries, and I not only was curious as to how they had these luxuries but also how I could be one of them.”

Despite his sunny rags-to-riches story, Jabli and his companies have faced legal challenges recently. Seven lawsuits were filed against him and his companies over an 18-month period, according to the Real Deal.

Nightfall and Jabli did not immediately respond to a request for comment.