AirBnb vs NYC

http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/airbnb-hosts-campaign-against-new-york-subpoena/
Airbnb Hosts Campaign Against New York Subpoena
October 18, 2013, 10:09 am
By EMILY BRENNAN
Updated, 2:37 p.m. | New Yorkers who use Airbnb to rent out their homes are joining the company’s fight against a subpoena that the New York attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, filed earlier this month that demands records of some 15,000 hosts in New York State.

“Legalize Sharing: Save Airbnb in New York,” the petition Mishelle Farer, a former Army sergeant, plans to deliver to the New York State Senate, has garnered nearly 50,000 signatures, exceeding its initial goal of 20,000.

“We’re not slumlords,” Ms. Farer wrote, adding that renting a room in her Brooklyn apartment has provided her with a source of income while she goes to school.

On Monday, Airbnb endorsed the “Legalize Sharing” petition. In an e-mail to New York users, Douglas Atkin, Airbnb’s global head of community, wrote, “only if you make your voice heard will policy makers finally realize that overbroad laws are hurting you and hurting New York.”

Airbnb has filed a motion in New York Supreme Court seeking to block the subpoena, which is based on a 2010 New York state law that bars renters from subletting properties for fewer than 30 days if they are not present. (That law does permit hosts like Ms. Farer to rent space in their apartments while they’re staying there.)

Airbnb argues that the law was designed to crack down on businesses that were converting apartments or buildings into illegal hotels — not on the average Airbnb host.

David Hantman, Airbnb’s head of global public policy, wrote earlier this month on the company’s public policy blog that “we believe the Attorney General is only seeking to target an incredibly small number of bad actors who abuse the Airbnb platform.”

“Even the politicians who wrote the original New York law agree it was never designed to target ordinary, everyday people who occasionally share their homes,” he wrote, adding that while the company is willing to work with leaders in New York and other cities to ensure that its hosts pay applicable taxes, the company is committed to protecting our hosts’ privacy and refuses to turn over its data.

Air bnb is running a campaign to save its' business. Plain and Simple. And for everyone that innocently rents their home out on occasion, there are many people exploiting this system where they are profiting at the expense of their neighbors and the city's dwindling housing supply. AirBnB claims it is the hotel tax that the people and politicians have the issue with but that is a small part of the problem. People who run 'hotel rooms' out of their apartments for profit are becoming a huge problem throughout the city. Companies like Air BnB don't even check if these apartments are legally allowed to be rented out. People are renting out multiple apartments then re-rent them out hotel style to anyone who responds to their ads. This has been going on in places like Stuy town/Peter Cooper as well as Rent Stabilized buildings throughout the city and in all kind of other apartments such as Co-ops and Condos which have strict rules about subletting. AirBnB does not bother to even ask if these people are the owners of the apartments which can easily be proven through leases, deeds etc nor do they ever ask for house rules of particular buildings which owners are required to abide by . The reason this is a real problem is it makes the housing supply tighter and if you have experienced this in your building (which I have) you would be subject to a revolving door of people from all over the place who now have keys to your building and treat it as they would a hotel. If companies like AirBnB want to operate in New York they should require those utilizing their service to verify they are the owners of the apartment and/ or have a right to rent it out. This company trying to position itself as the 'little guy' against the bad city is simply a company trying to make a huge profit at the expense of many of the residents in our city.