Advertising Sublets in NYC Now Illegal - Air BnB Has Pulled Listings
 

The governor has just signed into law the bill that prohibits the advertising of short-term sublets (less than 30 days) in NYC. This affects not only Air BnB but also all of the other companies that do this illegally.

Air BnB says they will fight this in court. But I understand that the Air BnB listing for NYC are now down to about 300 - from the thousands there were. What is legal now is only someone who rents a room while the tenant is still living in the apartment (very rare). Not sure how long it will take for the smaller companies and scammers to follow suit.

Anyone who has rented an apartment in NYC should contact the renter to find out if it is still available (very likely it won't be).

Finally! That's the way to handle it. I'm really glad the governor took that step. I didn't understand outlawing the short term rentals yet letting the advertising continue. It'll be interesting to see if Airbnb manages to influence it in court at all- I think this is the first big challenge it's faced.

At last!

Good news!

Basically it's an extension of the 2010 law, but with the fines increased. People can still rent out the 2nd floor of their home, or a separate area of their apartment. And in a duplex or 2-story building they can rent out one of the units. ( I'm not sure how it will hold up in court because if owners can rent out a 2nd story apartment than why not a third story? ) As for renting out an entire unit,people will find a way around it. If you are "home" on Thursday when your visitors arrive, you could take off on Fri Sat Sun and leave the visitors alone and get away with it. Basically anything you can do with family visitors you can do with paid guests, so advertisements may go away but guests will not. We'll probably see people advertising 31 day stays with a wink-wink, then if people want to stay just 4 nights they'll be issued a refund wink-wink.

We haven't heard the end of this mess!

I read something about that in the paper also, but it sounded just like the law that already exists, I couldn't see the distinction. Maybe I didn't see the part about advertising or didn't grasp that as the key distinction.

So does that mean just having a listing on Airbnb's website is called advertising? If so, that means Airbnb could be prosecuted as the one advertising?

What is AirBnB going to do to "fight it"? Other than complain that their revenue is being hurt. Oh, they usually try to act as if Airbnb is a charity helping humanity and then argues that people want to do it, so it should be okay. Really stupid arguments.

OMG, are you suggesting people may have to go back to renting hotel rooms from legitimate businesses? Fancy that.

The distinction is that the ADs are now illegal. The government can fine the people placing the ads - as for instance, all of the ads placed on Air BnB. Previous to this it was difficult to find people apartment by apartment.

Now the companies doing this can be tracked and Air BnB can be fined for running ads for illegal apartments.

It will be possible now for the special task force to fine these companies just for running these ads - to the point where they will have to stop advertising.

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Was watching a really fascinating Ted talk about Airbnb. I think but could be wrong that it was from one of the founders. It was basically about how they "spin" their product to make it appealing to both renters and hosts. Doesn't really have anything to do with the topic except to it made me more leery towards the company. They're all about design and the packaging- less about addressing the practicalities and legalities.

It's kind of interesting though. I think the problems facing cities like NYC are less about Airbnb itself and more about how they've made the idea of the share economy more mainstream. The question is if cities like New York can successfully stick the genie back into the bottle.

"They're all about design and the packaging- less about addressing the practicalities and legalities."

Or, said another way, they're all about making money, less about the impact on communities. Of course, you could also say that about the owners in many cases.

NYC isn't alone. Cities around the world are outlawing the short-term rental model. It depletes the available, affordable housing inventory and allows any structure in a residential area to become a commercial enterprise without following zoning laws which are established to protect the rights of all property owners.

"It depletes the available, affordable housing inventory and allows any structure in a residential area to become a commercial enterprise without following zoning laws which are established to protect the rights of all property owners."

I largely agree with this but I'd stress that zoning laws aren't about the interests of just property owners, but rather, about the interests and general welfare of the community at large (including residents who don't own property). How can we organize and regulate urban space in a manner that maximizes quality of life for everyone, takes advantage of scale and density (efficient public transportation or great public parks and spaces), etc. The transformation of neighborhoods into tourist accommodation zones are the anti-thesis to the ambitious and utopic urban planning that have made so many of the world's cities into such great places to live (and visit).

I think it really is the owners at fault, Jean. Airbnb "sold" the idea to their investors and audience and continues to to push it really hard. BUT the individual "owners" are the ones who choose to rent out their apartments and they are the ones who know if it violates local laws or their leases or coop rules, and they probably know it annoys their neighbors.I don't live in an area where Airbnb is illegal, but I have lived in several college towns. 9/10s of the time, subletting violates your lease. But it still is a common practice because students are both poor and transient. And extra money is always a temptation no matter what age you are.

So Airbnb made the practice desirable and oh so easy. They've done an impressive job of selling the idea of being both a host and a guest (even though I don't understand the attraction of either). Outlawing the ads is the best way to handle it. Because attempts to find all the owners is too time consuming and unwieldy and preaching at the vacationers...which happens on this board constantly...is ineffective if people think there won't be any serious consequences. Most see thenselves as the exception to the "bad tourist" rule.

I know a lot of you will disagree with this but I still don't think Airbnb is a huge cause of housing shortage. Many of the cities with severe housing shortage problems have had those issues for a long time before Airbnb. Cities can't keep up with the demand for affordable housing- and sadly, many don't even try. Developers bring more money. :(

Air BnB is not the only cause but it - and the many other companies that do the same on a smaller scale - certainly contribute to the overall housing shortage. And do contribute to the lack of security in a lot of buildings.

There is no law against people sharing apartment long-term - so it's not like the city or the landlord is forcing people to live alone and landlords certainly don;t want to rent people who can't pay for the apartment.

This is only a part of the problem - but certainly is a good step in the right direction.