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NY outlaws most Airbnb listings, imposes steep fines on hosts

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G

Gattsu25

Banned
So does this mean that the housing costs that were getting inflated because of AirBnB style services would return back to normal and "ungentrify" NYC neighborhoods?
 
H

hydrophilic attack

Member
I feel like such a law is too blunt

I think you should be allowed to let out an apartment or room for short time periods. What should be prohibited is letting an apartment you never use yourself, which is only used for making money on airbnb. That is the real issue
 
C

CHC

Member
Good. I mean, look, I want it to be affordable for people to come and see this amazing city, but fuck this whole idea of landlords using AirBnB to make more money than renters can pay.

Residential buildings in cities should be full of actual fucking citizens of that city, no ifs ands or buts.

Next let's see them tackle the scourge of wealthy foreigners renting "pied-a-terres" in New York's nicest neighborhoods via shell companies in order to store their assets.

But of course they won't because... hey we love the wealthy!
 
entremet

entremet

Member
Jack Scofield said:
Good. Hopefully California passes a similar law.
Click to expand...

I heard it's affecting Southern California housing like crazy.

But honestly, California, like New York, have excessive regulation and rampant NIBYM that drives up housing prices.

AirBnB is a convenient scapegoat.
 
B

Bubba T

Member
NYCmetsfan said:
Of course, they are a hotel company who doesn't need to find safety, employees or real estate costs. Just a server
Click to expand...

If approached differently, it really is a great system and alternative from hotels. Taking away affordable housing though isn't cool at all.

Starviper said:
So is this only applying to residential complexes? Because if you're a homeowner and want to rent out space for AirBNB I don't really see the problem with that.
Click to expand...

This applies to residential family homes as well. If you are a homeowner and are living there while renting a room, that is legal as NYCmetsfan says.

Taking a home and hoteling for random people is illegal. That's what enough people are doing to for this law to be enacted.
 
A

Art Teitlebaum

Member
I used AirBnB in Berlin last month but after talking to people living in the house where the flat I rented was, I'm sure I will never ever use that shit again.

It's poison for the housing market in that quarter of Berlin, complete houses are bought by investors just to let out the apartments via AirBnB and the neighbourhood gets more and more sterile and more and more expensive.
 
J

Jack Scofield

Member
Dynamite Shikoku said:
Good. Airbnb is fucked for people living in apartment buildings
Click to expand...

It's so bad in LA. If you walk down any street with apartment buildings, you'll notice a ton of padlocks next to the entrances. I guess this is where the renters pick up their keys. No joke, I went to Runyon a few weeks ago and the street leading up to it was filled with these things.

It's so bad.
 
G

ghostofsparta

Member
Completely OK with this. I think Airbnb does more harm than good, though I do have to admit I can only back this up with Trump proof: "I know it, you know it, we all know it".
 
H

hydrophilic attack

Member
AirBnB has made it possible for a mere PhD student like me to do rather extensive traveling across the world. I think the hate is overblown. Go after the people abusing the system rather than after everything
 
J

Jack Scofield

Member
hydrophilic attack said:
AirBnB has made it possible for a mere PhD student like me to do rather extensive traveling across the world. I think the hate is overblown. Go after the people abusing the system rather than after everything
Click to expand...

Let me know how you feel about AirBnB when you live in a place people actually want to travel to.
 
D

Deception

Member
So when will this law take effect? Im scheduling a trip to NYC in January and was planning to use AirBNB to save money versus the expensive hotels, would be a bummer if I can't.
 
S

Syriel

Member
Spiral Insanity said:
But that's what Airbnb is. Most Airbnb hosts are the 'common man'.
Click to expand...

Eidan said:
From what I've read, Airbnb's impact on housing costs is pretty overstated. But they make a convenient bogeyman for state and local politicians and NIMBYs.
Click to expand...

hydrophilic attack said:
I feel like such a law is too blunt

I think you should be allowed to let out an apartment or room for short time periods. What should be prohibited is letting an apartment you never use yourself, which is only used for making money on airbnb. That is the real issue
Click to expand...

Airbnb is great when you're dealing with standalone homes.

It sucks when you're dealing with townhome and condo complexes which prohibit short term rentals.

It is horrible when you're dealing with people who rent rent-controlled apartments and then illegally flip them for more than the legal rent on Airbnb. This is common in NYC and SF.

Unfortunately, Airbnb actively encouraged users to flout the law in some cases and that's coming back to bite the company.
 
T

TyrantII

Member
FairyD said:
Has NY done something similar with Uber?
Click to expand...

I'm pro Uber and anti AirBnB. But it's not hard, because there are some major differences.

First being the Taxi medallion lobby has been captured and isn't working as it should. It's only created a monopoly that rent seeks and provides terrible service to everyone. It's sort of amusing that they're whining about Uber, instead of using their massive advantages of their monopoly service to vastly outmaneuver them.

But crying the gravy train is stopping is easier.
 
C

ClosingADoor

Member
Good. Fuck Airbnb. More cities should do this. It creates problems for residents and the local housing market in major cities where supply is already limited.

hydrophilic attack said:
AirBnB has made it possible for a mere PhD student like me to do rather extensive traveling across the world. I think the hate is overblown. Go after the people abusing the system rather than after everything
Click to expand...
They could go after the problem cases (which are a lot) if airbnb would cooperate with local authorities. They refuse to do so since their profits mostly come from illegal listings. So screw them.
 
M

megalowho

Member
Syriel said:
Unfortunately, Airbnb actively encouraged users to flout the law in some cases and that's coming back to bite the company.
Click to expand...
Yes, Airbnb has had *years* to clean their own house before it got to this point. They decided to run an ad blitz in NYC about how great it is that grandma can rent out her extra bedroom instead to combat the negativity. Fuck 'em.

airbnb-graffiti.jpg
 
H

hydrophilic attack

Member
Jack Scofield said:
Let me know how you feel about AirBnB when you live in a place people actually want to travel to.
Click to expand...

I do

Syriel said:
Airbnb is great when you're dealing with standalone homes.

It sucks when you're dealing with townhome and condo complexes which prohibit short term rentals.

It is horrible when you're dealing with people who rent rent-controlled apartments and then illegally flip them for more than the legal rent on Airbnb. This is common in NYC and SF.

Unfortunately, Airbnb actively encouraged users to flout the law in some cases and that's coming back to bite the company.
Click to expand...

Sure, so go after the people doing that.

Not people who let one room in their house or let their apartment out when they are out traveling the world

BigJonsson said:
Good, they need to do this in Toronto as well
Click to expand...

Toronto is the only place where I've used airbnb and felt like the host had properties just for letting.

No other times have I gotten this impression, except for one time when I stayed at a proper hotel that just put an ad out on the website
 
T

TyrantII

Member
hydrophilic attack said:
AirBnB has made it possible for a mere PhD student like me to do rather extensive traveling across the world. I think the hate is overblown. Go after the people abusing the system rather than after everything
Click to expand...

That's what's happening. People are massively abusing the system, so they're going after it.

The problem is very, very few AirBnBs are just people renting out their place on the weekend while they're away. It's people running buissinesses abusing zoning laws and landlords abusing residential property.
 
B

BorkBork

The Legend of BorkBork: BorkBorkity Borking
Wonder if the hammer is coming down in Vancouver soon. Keep seeing Airbnb ads saying people need to make some extra on the side in order to live in the city.

Yup.
 
S

Sir Abacus

Member
I got $439/night for a nice, clean, two bedroom apartment (owner occupied, out of town for the week) in Midtown. You tell me where I can find a decent hotel for that price in the same area. Last time I came I paid $230/night for a two star shoebox in East Village. Cheapest I could find that wasn't a dorm style accommodation or shared bathroom.

I help my host with her stratospheric rent. I don't get gouged on my hotel stay. Win-win for everyone.
 
H

hydrophilic attack

Member
ClosingADoor said:
Airbnb should fix that. They can fix it. They refuse to do so. What do you want the local government to do then?
Click to expand...

I agree that airbnb is sleazy for the bolded.

In my country, the government tax agency goes after people on airbnb to make sure they are paying taxes as they should and don't compete unfairly against hotels.

If you let out your apartment without express permission from your landlord or housing association, you can get evicted. You don't need permission to let out a room if you're still staying there yourself. And the landlord or housing association has to grant you permission to let out your apartment if you are going on an extended trip, but they will crack down on people who buy-to-rent

Basically, it's in the interest of landlords and housing associations to prevent people from letting out their apartments and it's up to government to provide the framework for when you should be allowed to do so or not. There are special courts for conflicts between first-hand renters/owners of an apartment in a housing association and the landlord/housing associations
 
S

Syriel

Member
hydrophilic attack said:
Sure, so go after the people doing that.

Not people who let one room in their house or let their apartment out when they are out traveling the world
Click to expand...

Airbnb has done everything in its power to block cities from going after said folks because those are the ones making them money.

For example, in SF it is illegal to rent your unit for more than you pay in rent. If Airbnb fix prices at those levels, it would be super cheap for folks using Airbnb, but hosts would be less likely to use it if they weren't making a fat profit.
 
M

MJPIA

Member
Link to the new law.
http://nyassembly.gov/leg/?default_...mary=Y&Actions=Y&Committee&nbspVotes=Y&Text=Y
1 Section 1. The multiple dwelling law is amended by adding a new
2 section 121 to read as follows:
3 § 121. Prohibiting advertising that promotes the use of dwelling units
4 in a class A multiple dwelling for other than permanent residence
5 purposes. 1. It shall be unlawful to advertise occupancy or use of
6 dwelling units in a class A multiple dwelling for occupancy that would
7 violate subdivision eight of section four of this chapter defining a
8 "class A" multiple dwelling as a multiple dwelling that is occupied for
9 permanent residence purposes.
Click to expand...
http://www.nycrgb.org/html/resources/hmc/sub1/art1.html
A multiple dwelling is a dwelling which is either rented, leased, let or hired out, to be occupied, or is occupied, as the residence or home of three or more families living independently of each other. A multiple dwelling shall also include residential quarters for members or personnel of any hospital staff which are not located in any building used primarily for hospital use, but any building which was erected, altered or converted prior to July first, nineteen hundred fifty-five, to be occupied by such members or personnel or is so occupied on such date shall not be subject to the requirements of this code only so long as it continues to be so occupied if there are local laws applicable to such building and such building is in compliance with such local laws. A multiple dwelling does not include (i) a hospital, convent, monastery, asylum or public institution; or (ii) a fireproof building used wholly for commercial purposes except for not more than one janitor's apartment and not more than one penthouse occupied by not more than two families. For the purposes of this chapter, multiple dwellings are divided into two classes: "class A" and " class B."

(a) A class A multiple dwelling is a multiple dwelling which is occupied, as a rule, for permanent residence purposes. This class shall include tenements, flat houses, maisonette apartments, apartment houses, apartment hotels, bachelor apartments, studio apartments, duplex apartments, kitchenette apartments, garden-type maisonette dwelling projects, and all other multiple dwellings except class B multiple dwellings. (b) A garden-type maisonette dwelling project is a series of attached, detached or semi-detached dwelling units which are provided as a group collectively with all essential services such as, but not limited to, water supply and house sewers, and which units are located on a site or plot not less than twenty thousand square feet in area under common ownership and erected under plans filed with the department on or after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred fifty-four, and which units together and in their aggregate are arranged or designed to provide three or more apartments.
Click to expand...
Its been a long time coming, airbnb may have its uses but commercial operators used and abused this in cities.
 
O

olympia

Member
I live in the bay area where abnb is obviously a problem here, but I don't think that it should be banned. however, the shit that they are allowed to get away with is ridiculous. only until recently was a 60-day stay in sf banned. also the way airbnb has handled the whole situation is just beyond smug and poor.
 
B

biggersmaller

Banned
As a traveler, I adore airbnb/VRBO. Yes I know owners don't have to pay the regulatory and overhead costs of a hotel...but I don't care as they take on their own kind of risks. I love getting more for less and they love getting paid. No guilt here.
 
N

Nyoro SF

Member
While I love what AirBNB has offered me over the past few years, I won't deny its damaging side effects. Sooner or later this was going to happen.
 
E

El_Chino

Member
Wow. I didn't know so many people here hated Airbnb. I've had nothing but good experiences with it and it's my preferred way of board over hotels.
 
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