City Council Member Jumaane Williams (Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood) continued to lead the Council’s push to regulate the company’s data and crack down harder on apartment owner and tenant scofflaws renting out short-term rooms to visitors.
But Airbnb pushed back saying the lawmakers need to pass proper regulatory laws before they start fining New Yorkers struggling to pay the rent.
Williams, chair of the Committee on Housing and Building, along with Manhattan City Council Member Helen Rosenthal, fired off a letter last week to the company’s top 30 investors warning them on their investment is in danger as the city recently allocated several million dollars on increased enforcement of scofflaws.
“New York tenants, condo owners, and co-op owners who post an illegal rental are breaking the law and the terms of their lease or board agreement, and all of them are at risk of eviction. We have heard from the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) that eviction proceedings are moving forward at an increasing pace,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.
Williams and Rosenthal’s letter also appealed to to the investors for government allowance to install software on the Airbnb website to further catch scofflaws.
“We recently met with Airbnb’s representative, Chris Lehane. We asked him if Airbnb would voluntarily install simple software to keep illegal rentals off of their website. Remarkably, he refused, saying that he did not agree with the New York State law.
“As you can imagine, we were disappointed to learn that a nearly $30 billion company would knowingly allow illegal activity on its website. Other online platforms like Craigslist and Reddit have policies in which they promise to ensure their users obey the law and remove content that disobeys the law,” they wrote.
Airbnb countered that current city and state laws regarding the home-sharing industry need addressing before tighter enforcement measures are made that wind up hurting struggling New Yorkers.
“Most law makers are having a serious conversation about how to regulate home sharing responsibly in New York, but some are focused on theatrics,” said an Airbnb spokesperson. “Council Members Williams and Rosenthal are clearly committed to punishing middle class New Yorkers who simply want to share the home in which they live in order to make ends meet.”
