Skift Take
Airbnb's combative tone speaks to the severity of the issue for the sharing brand.
Up until late in the afternoon on Good Friday, Airbnb and New York State were in discussions to settle the state Attorney General's subpoena for a set of the short-term rental site's user data.
According to sources Skift spoke to, talks fell apart because Airbnb would not agree to limits on how many listings a person could have in New York City. [Ed. Note: Updated with statement from Airbnb, below]
Airbnb has made conciliatory overtures to municipalities in the form of proposals for its users to pay hotel taxes, but behind the scenes it is suiting up for battle in San Francisco and New York City, its two most important markets.
For the short-term rental service, the battle hinges on how many listings hosts can have, and how often they can rent them out.
This afternoon, Airbnb reiterated that it would remove "more than 2,000 listings" in New York managed by hosts that "weren’t delivering the kind of hospitality our guests expect and deserve."
The move comes less that 24 hours before Airbnb faces New York's Attorney General in court. On Tuesday Airbnb will meet representatives from the Attorney General's office in a courtroom in Albany to argue over a subpoena related to hosts in New York [embedded below] that have more than one listing on the site, or who rent out their place when they're not present.
In San Francisco, Airbnb's leaders are meeting with city council members in order to negotiate away key provisions in a new law that would make Airbnb legal in that city in many instances where it currently is not.
Both conflicts center on whether Airbnb is a place where hosts "occasionally rent out their homes" while "trying to make ends meet," as David H
