ALBANY — A bill that would bar the advertising of illegal short-term rentals on platforms like Airbnb is gaining steam in the last week of the legislative session.
Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island) and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan) have agreed on language for a joint bill they hope can move before lawmakers end the legislative session on Thursday.
The bill would prohibit the advertising of home sharing in multi-family units in New York City for less than 30 days and carry fines of up to $7,500 for multiple violations.
The first-in-the-nation legislation has managed to unify both housing activists and developers.
“Every day I hear from New Yorkers who are sick and tired of living in buildings that have been turned into illegal hotels through Airbnb because so many units are rented out to tourists, not permanent residents,” Rosenthal said.
“Time and time again, Airbnb has proved that it is unwilling to work with us to bring its operations into compliance with the law.”
John Banks, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, said illegal short-term rentals pose safety and quality of life issues for building residents while the building owners are the ones who get stuck paying the fines for the illegal actions of their tenants.
“This legislation is a powerful tool to stop both owners and tenants from taking such illegal actions,” Banks said.
Airbnb officials says a recent poll it commissioned showed that 65% believe lawmakers “should not penalize middle class families renting out their homes for less than 30 days the same way they penalize people operating illegal hotels and removing housing from the market.”
Airbnb says the majority of the rentals on their platform are legal.
“This is an anti-tenant and anti-homeowner bill that directly punishes New Yorkers who are struggling to stay in their homes,” said Airbnb spokesman Peter Schottenfels.
He said Airbnb wants to find a compromise.
“But the drivers of this bill have refused to come to the table and work out a comprehensive solution (that) would protect responsible home-sharers and goes after commercial operations — which we would strongly support,” Schottenfels said.
