New York State Anti Home Sharing Law

[Christine9]

I am a very successful Host here is Upstate NY.  I do have friends that are Host's is Florida.  I see there is a state tax on bookings in Florida.  There are no state taxes added to us here in NY...Upstate anyway.  

That said... with the NYS Anti Home Sharing Law coming very close to being passed here in Albany I'd like to just put this out there because I am pretty pissed !

1.  Assembly Woman  Linda Rosenthal stated " Time and time again, Airbnb has proved that it is unwilling to work with us to bring it's operations to COMPLIANCE "...  Why Airbnb are you now coming to your Host's and asking them to beg the Legislature to not pass this bill.   NYS wants $$$$$     GIVE IT TO THEM !!!!

2.  Airbnb has everything tied up in their operations ...to a "T"...I find the company is very organized and well run. But, being a hard working Super Host, I do not need this type of stress.

If this passes and I loose my business, you can be sure I will sue Airbnb !

Christine

[Jim-and-Loretta0]

NYS Building Code allows the short term rental of single family homes assuming the rental is to a single family. Meaning you haven't changed the intended use of the home.  More and more local municipalities are enacting laws regarding length of stay and requiring thirty days to prevent rentals from being used as unmanned hotels on weekends. 

[Horacio8]

So my interpretation is that if I have a 3 family I can still rent with Airbnb but for 30 days or more?

[Giedre-and-Andre0]

Here updatad the facts in NYC:

1) Legal (short term) Home-Sharing:

- Up to 2 paying guests in YOUR unit

- You need to be present in your unit during hosting

2) EVERYTHING else (entire apartments and/or more than 2 guests) is a "hotel", regardless of "multple dwelling law" or 1 and 2 fam. houses or big buildings.

The catch is not really the occupancy tax. The real problem are code violations

such as no sprinklers and everything else what would apply for a regular hotel-building in NYC.

As of a already passed bill, beginning 2019 all websites are in need to release all host information, and the city will start to go after all "illegal hotels" with code violations.

Any other info out there?

[Rodrigo52]

Hi, I'm planning my next vacation, and I and my family are evaluating Airbnb, but we are somewhat concerned about this issue and how this may impact a booking made 7 months earlier.

we would be grateful for your comments and recommendations. Thanks!!

[Clare0]

@Rodrigo52 You are correct to be concerned since no one seems to know what the Govenor plans on doing.  You can either: 

1. Not make a reservation now and wait to see if the situation is resolved one way or another.  Or, 

2. Make a reservation and if necessary the host would have to cancel if the the new law is enacted.  More than likely this would be considered Extenuating Circumstances by Airbnb if the laws of New York were such as to require a cancellation. 

Either way, it's a tough call.  Wish Govenor Cuomo would make a decision!

Clare

[Andrew90]

Just to be clear the new law just makes it illegal to advertise already illegal accomidations. The affected listings are already illegal and have been for years. 

I would book something being very cognizant of the cancellation policy and the fees that Airbnb would retain if the reservation needed to be cancelled. 

[Tim57]

Andrew,

I have read the new law.  It applies to Multi Dwelling Apartments (4+ units).  Entire SIngle family homes can be rented for less than 30 days.

Is this what you are reading?

[Manos1]

Hi Tim, I'm curious - 1-2 family homes equals buildings with 3 or less apartments? A friend of mine lives in a building with 1 store on the ground floor, 1 office on the 1st floor and 2 apartments. Would this be considered private dwelling? 

Thank you,

Manos

[Brandon96]

These laws may impact your vacation plans. The fines imposed are extremely high. Plus people are threatened with armed police who accompany the housing officials. We have had to hire an attorney and stop our Airbnb until we know more. This may force us out of Airbnb. I regret this because we have enjoyed having our guests.

[Pilar142]

This happened to me. building dept showed up with police and a warrent. My case was assigned to mayor task force. Although i had zero guests they still fined me bc the rooms look like furnished rooms and are considered sros. Paid 9,000 in fines with no option to medigate them. On top of this during the case hearing there were several errors on their end with wrongfully coding the fines, no concrete evidence of use of the room since they were empty just simply the inspector’s judgement of my home being used as an illegal hotel when its a private family house and i live on the property. These laws that the mayor created and its unfair.  

[Melissa128]

Can anyone provide details on how this will effect those of us who are NOT in NYC? I have contacted the NYS senate via email, because thier is a LOT of confusion on how this will be carried out. Not to mention I had for the fist time been contacted by the local town court last summer stating that they required an occupancy tax of 3% to be paid for every rent I receive, which I paid and am happy to continue paying. Although I must say I find it difficult to swallow after purchasing this home solely for rental income and already paying a high property tax and school tax, plus have submitted all paperwork on income to NY

[Tim57]

Melissa,

The new law applies to multi family dwellings which are defined as those having 4 or more units.  It is a statewide law and not just limtied to NYC.  Having said that, there is a very large concentration of Multi Family dwellings in NYC.  Single family homes and those buildings with less than 4 units are not impacted, they can be rented for less than 30 days.  Suffolk county and a few other NY counties have imposed a 3% hospitality tax on Airbnb rentals.  Local towns can and do harass Airbnb hosts but there is no real legal reason (unless there are specific prohibitions as part of home owners association) they can point use to prohibit Airbnb under state law.  Note, the probibition could put a chill in people making researvations.  NYS and NJ have the highest property, income and fees in the USA, by far.  CA has high income taxes but porperty taxes are like 80% lower than those in NY/NJ.  Unfortunate situation but with both leaders of the NYS Assembly and NYS Senate going to jail on corruption charges, it is not surprising at all.

[Andrew90]

I think this article describes in nicely but does not adress tax implications. 

http://www.evelynbadia.com/blog/simple-guide-current-ny-laws-airbnb

[Manos1]

Hi Tim, you said that "Single family homes and those buildings with less than 4 units are not impacted". 

I'm copying and pasting from the NY state Multiple Dwelling Law (https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/buildings/pdf/MultipleDwellingLaw.pdf😞

"A multiple dwelling is a dwelling which is either rented, leased, let or hired out, to be occupied, or is occupied as the residence or home of three or more families living independently of each other"

From this I understand that only Single and Two family units are the ones not impacted. Buildings with 3+ units are considered multiple dwellings.

[Martina89]

http://www.cntraveler.com/story/airbnb-banned-in-nyc-what-actually-just-happened

So this happened and I have a reservation for December already and another request for the same month.  Do I just need to cancel them and close my account here at Airbnb?  How are other renters in NY handling this? HELP!!!!