Tracking down illegal apartments in NYC
 

There is an interesting article in today's New York Times New York section concerning how one woman is tracking down illegal short term rentals. She lives in Stuyvesnat Town and got fed up with the practice so decided to take action.

Any of you considering renting a vacation apartment in NYC should read it.

Especially because you could wind up being my neighbor.

Good for her. The NYC authorities could use all the help they can get in this regard but I think it'll be like shoveling $h!t against the tide.

It would be helpful if there was some way for apartment landlords interested in renting their apartments for less than 30 days to show that their space is a 'legal' rental, complies with the law and meets all D.O.B. requirements along with the proper C.O. Too bad there isn't some sort of certificate of validation that apartment owners could receive after going through an application process, paying a fee, paying for an inspection, etc.
VRBO could then require owners who want to rent their apartments for 30 days or less to post the salient information right on their advertisement online. Not having the information included on the VRBO site online would (should) then serve as a red flag to avoid renting these apartments.

Anyway, be careful out there. There're a lot of pigs' ears looking like silk purses in the short term rental business.

Here's the link to that article that SusieQQ referenced. Good information there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/ny...1&ref=nyregion

Note this paragraph:

"Renting out one’s apartment as a hotel room has become commonplace in the city, made possible by Web sites like Airbnb, Roomorama and HomeAway. For most residential buildings, a 2010 law prohibits rentals of fewer than 30 days, though there is leeway for people to rent a room within their home, and other kinds of housing may be exempt."

And this:

"Other neighbors have had closer encounters. Maurice I. Michaane, 31, who has lived in Stuyvesant Town since 2007, said he and his husband came home one night a few months ago to find three men trying to enter their building behind them. Mr. Michaane did not recognize the men, and did not want to let them in.

“There was a physical altercation,” he said. “They were like, ‘We’re here for the weekend; you have to let us in.’ They pushed us aside and went in.”

That's a bad environment, eeeks. Bad juju.

Why can't whoever has enforcement powers just contact the people who advertise on these sites. Fine them or whatever.

Karen

It's a very difficult situation for Stuyvesant Town or peter Cooper - since there are so many apartments there. In smaller co-ops and condos it;s much easier - since you do recognize your neighbors and can immediately challenge anyone you don;t know trying to enter the building.

Also - our building has gone to a keyless system - and the electronic fobs are much more difficult to duplicate than keys - and it;s really easy to track anyone asking the management for extra fobs. In addition to charging them - anyone who keeps "losing" fobs would be very suspect. When the fobs were first issues each apartment was issued one fob for each adult - with the option to buy one for older children at $5 each. People who lose their fobs now have to pay $100 each for a new one - and we're looking at raising that - to help ensure no one is undermining building security.

Here is what I wrote for the other thread:

I live in Syuvesant Town and not everyone is an aggressive guard dog. The management company started to rent to NYU students a few years ago and now there is more a transient feel, rather than a home for families which it had been for the first 50 years.

There are over 100 apartments in each building, so it impossible to know everyone. There are two elements which the article does not address. First, there is an entrance door for which you need a key card and people are fairly dilligent about not allowing those who do not recognize to follow them into the building. This has been part of the culture for the longest time. Second, a generational war has erupted between the NYU students and the long time residents. Many older residents do not like frat party atmosphere and the yearly or semester turnover. Thus young people dragging luggage are suspect, though I have not seen any overt hostility in our building.