They don't tell you that even if you live there, you are still a hotel and that is illegal especially if you do not have sprinklers, a wired fire alarm system and secondary egress.
The articles pretend it is about the "evil" hotel industry not letting guests save money instead of emphasizing the safety issues - this makes all hosts look bad by design - that we are so greedy that we would put safety behind illegal hosting. I have stopped hosting and have found it impossible to find a roommate so I am very worried but it doesn't change the fact that I can never host again in this building because of the lack of safety elements. Also, Inspector Chung said I would still be a hotel if I had monthly roommates unless they were on a lease. That is terrible news and contradicts what they tell us in the press about having roommates who are not on the lease.
I am not trying to ruin hosting but I personally cannot do it since the FDNY Inspector Brown said gently and sadly, "It is about safety" - it's like someone telling you not to drive drunk and not risk killing three babies. How can you argue with that?
I think some of the condo owners in NYC can legally host because their newer buildings have those safety elements so airbnb hosting belongs to those few hosts. But a house probably does not have a sprinkler system.
I think NYC is hypocritical and is intentionally not going after every host because there is a benefit to the real estate industry. I want airbnb to stay because I need the exposure to find subtenants and roommates who want to be on the lease because the other options are no good. Not only should all hosts register but all GUESTS identities should be filed with NYPD. I don't see the problem for airbnb letting the city do this since airbnb has already agreed to it in other cities. It's not a big deal for airbnb to allow it.
There are so many microaggressions BY GUESTS who are in your HOME and basically know that you are so desperate financially that you would actually let some stranger into your home.
