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This. So many time this. I never thought I'd be thankful for draconian co-op boards but they keep the airbnb racket down to a dull roar.
Edit:
Can't landlords evict tenants who do this? If so, airbnb might be providing just enough rope for many tenants to get themselves turfed. In which case we should be thanking airbnb for helping to shrink the pile of horsesh*t that is rent regulation in NYC.
Actually, landlords cannot evict tenants for using Airbnb. It would take a huge expense in court and a subpoena just to get the records and know for a fact how much income the tenant was making.
And a lot of landlords themselves are using Airbnb to rent out whole apartments. Mind you this has the hotels upset as this deals with zoning and other legal issues. But these landlords have their lawyers out and are prepared for a battle.
Because you see, a landlord could make a lot of money in temporarily renting out apartments. Short term rentals from landlords are illegal. But there's now a huge market for it.
Basically, the city is going to have to either change the laws OR allow the construction of MUCH more SHORT TERM housing.
Airbnb is an example of how new technology challenges old laws and old ways of doing business.
The music industry was 100% against the downloading of music and would not ALLOW legal digital downloads. Only the illegal market grew so big it was severely harming the music industry. They then allowed legal downloading (services like Amazon and Apple's Itunes sell digital copies of music, movies, tv shows) and of course there is online streaming of movies (Netflix, Amazon).
But as a result this wiped out entirely the music store business. CD got wiped out too. Then the video store and video rental business. There were plenty of complaints about this at the time, and so what? Old people have always had issues with new stuff coming out, but change ultimately cannot be stopped.
I think all Airbnb's critics are ultimately doing is giving the company free publicity. Until the controversy blew up, I didn't know about it. I then opened up my own Airbnb account after reading about it and I must say I love it.
Nothing, for rather very obvious reasons. Even Bloomberg did nothing.
Take a tenant. Suppose a tenant losing his or her job, or is otherwise undergoing financial difficulty. An obvious way of raising funds to avoid homelessness is to rent out space in the apartment. The city, state, and courts know this, so they never really opposed people renting out space in their apartments or homes. It isn't illegal.
Many landlords know that their tenants have roommates, as well. My landlords were always okay with it.
Having long term roommates is a whole nother matter. But lets not start making things up. It is ILLEGAL for a rental tenant to use his apartment as a motel. It makes no sense for it to be legal for rental tenants, but not the landlord. If it were then no discussions of AirBnb will even take place. AirBnb would have been around since the advent of the internet, and the spread of the personal computer. Heck there probably would not even be hotels in existence. There would be no need for them.
Actually where would it be legal? Lets say you own a house in the suburbs. Can you just bring in eight different people weekly? If you own a condo or coop, dont most buildings have rules against it?
Dude, homeowners use Airbnb to rent out space in their HOUSES. Before Airbnb, it was craigslist.
I have used Airbnb myself in renting out space where I lived. Before that I used Craigslist, and awhile ago I even used roommate services. There's always been a huge industry in subletting rooms in apartments in NYC proper (but this does indeed extend to single family homes as well).
Oh, speaking of rents. many immigrants live 15 people to an apartment or so (it was like that growing up in Central Queens where I was born). And yes, the city does not and will not do anything to those homeowners who illegally converted single and two family homes into multiple unit dwellings.
Back to Airbnb, the reason it is an existence is because there is a huge market for temporary housing in any major city. A huge portion of the economy in NYC is based on tourists who you basically loathe for whatever bizarre reason. You know, people who bring money to the city and whose spending generations TAX revenue. I guess you'd rather deal with the homeboys in Brownsville.
NYC will be a better place without you dude, enjoy leaving!
I couldn't careless what another homeowner does with their home. You've once again misunderstood a citidata post in your rush to respond. As a renter in a building infested with Airbnb squatters, I'd go out of my mind sharing hall space and common areas with transients. What the guy next door or down the block chooses to do with his home is his business. This topic sure seems critical to you. I suppose you rely on Airbnb to make your rent every month?
And yes, I'm out of NYC right now. Posting this after a long beautiful day in the Adirondacks. It was nice getting snowed on so early in the year.
Having long term roommates is a whole nother matter. But lets not start making things up. It is ILLEGAL for a rental tenant to use his apartment as a motel. It makes no sense for it to be legal for rental tenants, but not the landlord. If it were then no discussions of AirBnb will even take place. AirBnb would have been around since the advent of the internet, and the spread of the personal computer. Heck there probably would not even be hotels in existence. There would be no need for them.
Actually where would it be legal? Lets say you own a house in the suburbs. Can you just bring in eight different people weekly? If you own a condo or coop, dont most buildings have rules against it?
Well, as noted before Airbnb I used craigslist to rent out space in apartments I've had. My landlord knew and did not care or oppose me.
And perhaps one day there won't be hotels or any need for them due to Airbnb and similar services. That's what this is really about.
I couldn't careless what another homeowner does with their home. You've once again misunderstood a citidata post in your rush to respond. As a renter in a building infested with Airbnb squatters, I'd go out of my mind sharing hall space and common areas with transients. What the guy next door or down the block chooses to do with his home is his business. This topic sure seems critical to you. I suppose you rely on Airbnb to make your rent every month?
And yes, I'm out of NYC right now. Posting this after a long beautiful day in the Adirondacks. It was nice getting snowed on so early in the year.
Well, since you're proudly in Staten Island and proudly out of NYC, what goes on in NYC apartments is not your concern.
And as noted, I use Airbnb and before that it was Craigslist. Plenty of others have used this services too. They make Manhattan more affordable.
The true complainers about this are the hotel industry, but what would I care about the profitability of the hotel industry.
I doubt people are claiming AirBnb revenue on their taxes....
Yes, you are claiming it on your taxes. You have to fill out a tax form to use the service to rent out your room, plus they verify your identity with your government issued ID, among other things such as e-mail, phone, Facebook, etc.
Yes, you are claiming it on your taxes. You have to fill out a tax form to use the service to rent out your room, plus they verify your identity with your government issued ID, among other things such as e-mail, phone, Facebook, etc.
Well then that settles it....quick way to get rich now in NYC is get a 2 bedroom apt and advertise the extra room on airbnb.
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Posting this after a long beautiful day in the Adirondacks. It was nice getting snowed on so early in the year.
