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 short-term rental problem does not extend beyond a heavy lobbying effort to change this law.
David Hantman joined Airbnb as its Global Head of Public Policy in October. He told Skift in an interview that making Airbnb work in New York City is a priority. "We can't possibly keep up with the law in all the cities," Hantman says. "Is there a model city? What we'd like to do is figure out a way to make New York the model city. We think we are creating a system that's better than the current situation. My main goal is to get laws that clear the way for our hosts."
Airbnb's promise
Alongside TripAdvisor and smartphones, few companies or products have had as great an influence on how people travel over the last decade as has Airbnb. With smart technology and equally smart design sensibilities, it took the existing concept of vacation rentals, made everything more efficient and reliable, created new markets in urban areas, and got a new generation of consumers hooked on the concept.
"We take something that's already happening and we make it safer and better," says Hantman. "We have a rating system so that you get better users, and most of the people renting out their place are responsible neighbors who are invested in getting quality renters."
It has spawned knock-offs around the world and prompted big-wigs like HomeAway.com and VRBO to rethink their products. Since it was founded in August of 2008 it's facilitated over ten million nights' worth of bookings. And it's
