I think is only going to happen more and more across the country. I understand AirBnB is <i>disruptive</i> to some degree, but you have to consider:<p>- Cities that rely on tourism generate revenue from hotel "bed taxes" which are often higher or in addition to sales tax<p>- People who are making money on AirBnB by renting out rooms probably aren't paying income tax on it (call it a hunch)<p>- All the sublease/short-term laws that exist already. For example, in Shell Beach, CA (near where I'm at) you cannot rent a house/room for less than 1 month. People on VRBO are already sketchy about this when you call.<p>- I still see significant liability issues for <i>both sides</i>. Seriously, what happens if you rent out a room illegally and the guy/gal slips and falls in your shower? What if your dog bites them?<p>I want AirBnB to do well, but could enough local/state government regulations threaten their growth/existence?
Last week I rented a room for a week through airbnb.com at a place that is basically running a commercial hotel operation (as an aside, the place was great) while apartment hunting in NYC.<p>While there, my girlfriend dug up a bunch of stories about the neighbors complaining about condo unit owners leasing out units to this place. I can understand both sides of the argument; if I'd just bought a condo in a building I wouldn't be happy about a large majority of the other units being rented out every night to tourists.<p>I got the distinct impression that there had been a problem with crime and people being disruptive in the buildings recently, although the whole time we were there it was quiet.<p>Apparently the owner of this hotel has approached a bunch of building owners with vacant condos and offered to lease them. The building owners are very happy (as apparently they are getting more then they would to rent them as apartments).<p>I will say that I stayed in a giant two bedroom loft in Williamsburg for about half the cost of a "regular hotel"; so it's definitely appealing.<p>After checking out, I actually got an email from the hotel with the number for New York Speaker's office asking us to call them about bill Bill A10008.
I'm mostly interested that this doesn't touch on the more basic issue:<p>AirBNB is illegal not only due to short term hotel law, but also due to sublease law in NYC. You CANNOT sublet an apartment for more than it is worth in New York. I've met and heard of more than a few people who rent apartments and use AirBNB as a primary source of (as OP points out, untaxed) income. I'm surprised NYC landlords aren't more up in arms about this.<p>I don't agree with making it illegal outright, but I actually am kind of in favor of regulating and taxing this better, for the issues the OP talks about as well as the sublease issues.<p>Edit: After thinking about this a little more I realize the OP goes 90% of the way but doesn't quite cross the finish line with the argument. AirBNB IS the regulatory institution, and is doing a better job than the govt. My sublease point still stands.
Interesting comment on related article by NYT that offers some insight into what type of behavior this bill may be aimed at curbing ...<p><a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/bill-could-make-subletting-a-tad-illegal/#comment-700185" rel="nofollow">http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/bill-could-make...</a>
Yes getting legislation on your side and suing people will completely undo fundamental shifts that are happening in the real world. NOT.
Hotel Chains should be the ones at the front coming up with services like airbnb or integrating them. The hotel brand can offer as a front to loosely federated room providers and the hotel steps in by doing quality control and enforcing standards. In fact people in the hotel industry should be overjoyed that this model removes two of the big costs of running hotels - hotel staff and realty costs for the property. All the hotels have to do is to be umbrella brands and get "franchise" service providers.
Is the rental contract between the customer and the room provider or between the customer and airbnb?<p>One way to approach enforcement would to be to set a threshold on the number of units a room provider can offer without being subject to the hotel regulations. AirBnB can easily enforce such restrictions.
I wonder what the maximum occupancy laws are like. Could you get around this by simply putting down on paper that you're subletting for a month when they're just staying overnight?
Similar initiatives have already be pushed in other cities with vibrant short-term rental markets.<p>Short term sublets are already outlawed in some neighborhoods of London (e.g. Belgravia, with a potential fine of ~20k pounds). There is also a similar law in Paris since last December, although as a matter of practice it is only enforced after complaints from co-op boards and neighbors who get annoyed at the constant stream of vacation renters. The hotel lobby was behind the law in Paris. Part of the justification was also that owners of short-term rentals, often foreigners themselves, do not declare the rental income on the properties.
Does that mean these are actually legal currently? I assumed that they were illegal in most jurisdictions, since most municipalities have <i>some</i> sort of regulation on short-term rentals, at least to the extent of requiring registration and an occupancy tax paid, which most AirBnB 'landlords' aren't complying with. But enforcement is difficult / not a priority when it comes to single individuals renting out a room--- enforcement is usually directed more towards, say, someone who owns an entire apartment complex running an unlicensed hotel out of it.
Well, now I know my original post wasn't misplaced! <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1471654" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1471654</a><p>Prior to reading some of the comments from NYC residents, I was vehemently opposed to this kind of government interference, but now I'm not so sure. It would suck to live next to some of these people.<p>I wonder if entire building communities could vote on whether to allow this individually so either everyone agrees or disagrees and then has to live with it.
I've got an idea. Since the government is probably going to keep on giving existing players legislative help to keep competition out anyway maybe what we should do is pass an "Innovation stiflation act". That is, if you come to the government asking for a law to keep out your competitors then they assign an assessor (the same guy who values my house 40%" above what I could actually get for it) to evaluate how much revenue you're going to get by not having these competitors and we tax <i>that</i> money at, say, 80%.<p>If we're not going to get the benefit competition would bring at least we should get tax revenue out of it.
Paris apartments and accommodation. Paris short term stays for vacation and holiday rentals accommodation. Self catering, family and group holidays and luxury apartments in Paris France.
thanks i like your post
<a href="http://www.holiday-velvet.com/paris" rel="nofollow">http://www.holiday-velvet.com/paris</a><p><a href="http://www.holiday-velvet.com/paris" rel="nofollow">http://www.holiday-velvet.com/paris</a>
This passed the NY Senate and is now in the Assembly. I wrote to my senator (he co-sponsored the bill and obviously voted for it) and they called me (which was nice). Apparently there is supposed to be an exemption if the owner/renter is present.