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Post by carolyn on Jun 15, 2016 23:13:39 GMT
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Post by High Priestess on Jun 16, 2016 0:18:30 GMT
Yes, Carolyn, I know. Heavy handed regulations are unfortunately occurring in many cities.
I saw two things in this article that might be of concern to those doing short term rentals -- (1)the prohibition on doing such rentals in ANY rent-stablized unit (meaning, that tenants living in those units would not be able to do short term rentals in such units, even if their landlord permitted them to do so). (2) This statement: "the current draft of the short-term rental ordinance includes provisions that would prohibit platforms from advertising illegal listings. Platforms are also obligated to share basic data about the location of listings and the price paid for each night of accommodation."
BOth of those are of concern to me, and I would oppose both. I see no reason for the city to prohibit a tenant from doing sublets if their landlord allows them to. That is really a matter between the landlord and tenant as I see it. If the concern of the city is that large landlords are evicting tenants to do STRs, then just prohibit anyone doing STRs in a unit they don't live in. Simple enough and it's what most cities do. I see no reason to ban even the tenant from doing STRs in their own residence if their landlord allows it.
#2 is of greater concern to me because it, like the recent law passed in San Francisco, asks Airbnb to enforce city laws. I strongly oppose this for reasons mentioned elsewhere. I also agree with those attorneys and legal experts who say such laws are illegal under section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, and expect Airbnb to fight such regulations in court.
An FYI -- in response to San Francisco's passage of the law requiring Airbnb to remove "illegal" listings from its site (those which do not have a city registration number in them) or face daily fines of $1000 a day per listing, Airbnb is not indicating that it will comply with this city law, but is "throwing a bone" to the city. It is attempting to cooperate with the spirit of the city's concerns, if not the letter of the law, and today issued letters to many San Francisco hosts, stating that it would be "removing listings which remove rental housing from the market in SF". THis issue, that of long term housing being removed from the market, has consistently been one of SF's primary stated concerns. So Airbnb is willing to help with that issue -- but in its own way, by removing listings. Not in the way the city wants, by enforcing city law and removing all listings that don't have a registration number.
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