New York City recently shared that they might be cracking down on the short-term rental laws and fining anyone who violates them, and now AirBnb is retaliating by suing the New York state’s attorney general, New York City, and its mayor Bill de Blasio.
The bill that New York is trying to enforce is one where a $7,500 fine could be put on any listing fewer than 30 days where an owner or tenant is not present.
The lawsuit alleges that the bill violates the Airbnb host’s free-speech and due-process rights.
AirBnb released a statement on the situation.
“In typical fashion, Albany back-room dealing rewarded a special interest — the price-gouging hotel industry — and ignored the voices of tens of thousands of New Yorkers. A majority of New Yorkers have embraced home sharing, and we will continue to fight for a smart policy solution that works for the people, not the powerful.”
Advocates of the bill have suggested that the short term rentals from sites like AirBnb are affecting the market in a bad way for long term tenants. New York’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has explained.
“The law signed today will provide vital protections for New York tenants and help prevent the continued proliferation of illegal, unregulated hotels, and we will defend it. Airbnb can’t have it both ways. It must either police illegal activity on its own site — or government will act to protect New Yorkers, as the state just did.”
