Airbnb’s growing pains mirrored in New York City, where half its listings are illegal rentals
Skift Take
One would hope that a company that has the ears of both the youngest and the most affluent travelers would take its responsibilities seriously: Not only by the way they handle the legal side of the issue, but also in how they lead the conversation in addressing the questions that these laws raise.
Apartment rental site Airbnb's revolutionary simplicity has made it easy for tens of thousands of people to both list and discover lodging options in private residences and book them easily, quickly, and safely. But a basic search on Airbnb.com for New York City lodging demonstrates that more than half of the available bookings on the popular vacation rental website are likely illegal according to New York State law. Hosts of these units are subject to fines ranging from $1,000 for a first offense to $20,000 for repeated violations, according to a New York City Council bill passed in October.
Airbnb is aware of the problem. It lobbied and spoke out publicly against the passage of the New York State law in June of 2010 that banned a particular yet very popular type of short-term rental in New York City, but it did not make changes to its site when the law went into effect in May 2011. State officials say that Airbnb's public promises to work with the city on a solution to its illegal
