What is AirBnB's response to the increasing number of cities that restrict short-term rentals?

Hank9
Level 3
Portland, ME

What is AirBnB's response to the increasing number of cities that restrict short-term rentals?

South Portland just shut down most rental units. This is leaving me with expensive property that I cannot earn money on. I know that this is happening across the country (and world) but the only information I can find about how AirBnB is dealing with this is through Google search on the topic, and it's almost all external articles.

 

Nicholas

11 Replies 11
Marzena4
Level 10
Kraków, Poland

Read about splitting Airbnb, just announced by Brian Chesky on February 22 - more or less answers your question, @Hank9

// "The only person you can trust is yourself"

What are you seeing that I'm not? I read a piece on cnbc, another on The Record. Chesky talks about AirBnB's responsibility, but does not describe the company's plans to support its hosts in cities that are challenging their right to operate. 

@Hank9, I think the action regarding fighting local legislation is through the local Home Sharing Clubs.

(You can see it as a separate menu item in this Community.)

The Home Sharing Club page says this:

"Home Sharing Clubs are a place for hosts to connect with each other, serve their communities and support fair home sharing legislation."

 

I imagine they feel that the best chance of success starts with mobilizing the hosts in the area.

Pat96
Level 7
Williamsburg, VA

The local government here in Williamburg states we had 300 Airbnb’s. I found that ridiculous. There is only about 8 homeowners who have a room in their home and all this other stuff is hotels or timeshares. 3 timeshare managers have about 50 rooms each. I checked them all. I reported  back to the county that we homeowners aren’t a problem. 8 outs of 300? This area is a huge tourist draw, and the hotel managers have overstated homeowner Airbnb influence. Why? They want to get rid of us 8. I pointed out that hosting guests in homes was done ages ago before hotels were here! 

Par, I'm glad you pointed out that housing boarders has always been an American tradition.

I kind of forgot that.

We hosts need PR weapons like this when fighting the land-use Kommissars

Thank you

 

Pat96
Level 7
Williamsburg, VA

Also- last July ‘17, Virginia governor signed a law that local government had to establish a list of “rentals for less than 30 days” (exclude hotels) and establish a reasonable fee to be on this list. So far nothing has been done but the county quit harassing me for a business license and all this grandios paperwork.  I mean there are only 8 homeowners here with a little guest room. What a Big Deal! Geez. Mostly Airbnb listings are the overpriced timeshares they can’t sell - and the duped owners of such are sick of paying for them. 

John1574
Level 10
Providence, RI

* * * *

 

I think AirBnB should be doing much more to help hosts face this issue.  Much, much more.

 

Like helping local hosts fight the good fight with talking points, legal advice, and so on and so forth.  It's a bit odd that no one here has answered the OP's question -- not even a link.  SAD.

 

I see Boston is moving to heavily restrict also.

 

 

Claudiu-Nicolae0
Level 10
Barcelona, Spain

And what can AirBnb do? They can't go against a local legislation. They have to follow the laws, if they don't want to pay heavy fines or to be banned completely.

Janette37
Level 2
United Kingdom

It is in the  Airbnb interest to protect our rights as property owners. There needs to be a legal team addressing and helping hosts deal with this issue.

 

Yes, there can be noise, overcrowding laws etc. but unless cities ban ALL rentals entirely, I find it discriminatory and driven by hotel industries alone. Why is it ok to rent for 30 days and not 29 days? Either abolish ALL rentals in the area or the ordinance should be challenged for discrimination. They (the city) do absolutely nothing about homeless living outside homes, parks, playgrounds leaving human waste, needles rubbish and the potential for communicable disease spread that can and will turn into an epidemic. But if a host wants to rent out property, they get penalized by the city. Homeless have more rights then tax-payers.  What's wrong with this picture? We all have rights whether homeless on not. Why are law abiding citizens penalized??? That's what Airbnb legal team should focus on immediately if not sooner. If we lose, Airbnb loses. 

Kimberly419
Level 4
Ontario, Canada

That battle is raging in Toronto right now. The main issue is a severe housing shortage driven, in part, by some 5000 Airbnb listings for condos that are set up solely as short-term rentals. That is, nobody lives in them and most are managed by corporations. This is a legitimate problem, both in terms of housing availability and in terms of the market & service pressures on traditional Airbnb hosts. 

 

New legislation (which has been pending for 2 years while it's being challenged) would allow hosts to offer all or part of their principal residence for short-term rental.

 

How is Airbnb involved in this battle?  This provides a clue ... [bold mine] 

 

"Lawyer Sarah Cormac, who represents landlord Alexis Leino, one of the operators who launched the LPAT appeal, and whose legal fees are being paid by Airbnb, asked if Wachsmuth would adopt Fairbnb’s statements generally."

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/08/30/new-rules-would-put-a-third-of-airbnb-listings-out-of-bu...

 

@Kimberly419   There are more than 2 million people in Toronto, somehow, I doubt that 5,000 airbnbs are going to make much of a difference in the cost or availability of housing.  Airbnb may have some small marginal impact, but the idea that local governments have now, which is that if only airbnb was made illegal, then the affordable housing crisis that has existed for at least 30 years, will evaporate over night.  What it really does is hurt the middle class who are being priced out of these areas.