Source: New York votes to ban ads for whole apartments on Airbnb

According to Engadget Airbnb is not at all happy with the recent ruling by New York to  “make it illegal just to advertise your entire place for a short (under 30 days) rental. You’ll face a $1,000 fine the first time you’re caught, $5,000 the second time and $7,500 the third. Governor Cuomo still has to sign the bill into law, but that’s likely to be a mere formality.”

It was already illegal to offer your whole apartment for short-term rentals through services like Airbnb, but this new bill is “giving that legislation some added bite.’ No wonder then in this article “Airbnb Hurt by NY Ban on Short Term Rental Ads” we hear that the company feels it is unjust.

Airbnb says NY Ban on Short Term Rental Ads is a “conspiracy between the government and the hotel industry, and argues that it’ll increase the odds of bankruptcy, eviction, or foreclosure for 30,000 state residents who might otherwise struggle to make ends meet.”

What worries NY is that housing supply is dwindling as many realestate speculators buy up properties “solely to profit from Airbnb rentals. “The would-be law should limit short-term rentals to people who actually live in their homes.”

Shared Travel Economy Under Attack

Its not the first or last time that we will see Airbnb come under pressure. The successfully won the vote when San Francisco moved to stop their short term rental with a proposed bill that would limit home rental to  3 moths a year. “The City initiative would have meant house renters could only let homes for under 90 nights a year. They undertook studies that showed how Airbnb has removed available housing for residence. A problem where 63% of homes are valued at $1 million or more and rents are now an average of over $4,000.” See AirBnb wins over San Fancisco.

Hotel association dont like this type of shared hospitality as it cuts into hotel revenue. They lobby hard to contain these properties saying that they are unlicensed establishments that do not comply with city regulation and are not governed by hospitality standards. At the same time Governments also need to know that  accommodations offered to tourists  are of acceptable standards. They want to sustain their tax base and they also worry about availability of reasonably housing for residents. Both are staked against Airbnb who is likely to have several more fight on its hand.