Airbnb Has Sued Its Hometown Of San Francisco (cnn.com)

Robert Mclean, reporting for CNN:Airbnb is taking its hometown to federal court. The company has filed a lawsuit against the city of San Francisco, objecting to short-term rental rule changes approved by its Board of Supervisors. A new ordinance set to take effect in late July would require all Airbnb hosts to register with the city. If they do not, Airbnb would be fined up to $1,000 a day for each listing, putting the burden on the company to make sure each listing is legal. But the city's $50 registration process is analog enough to turn off many hosts. It can't be completed online and requires submitting all the documents in person. Airbnb contends the new rule violates the Communications Decency Act, Stored Communications Act and the First Amendment.

Comments

Re:Frivilous Law Suit

[oh_my_080980980]

Most municipalities do not have the ability to submit registration forms on-line. Sack up and deal with it Airbnb. Your first amendment rights are not being trampled upon but you are wasting tax payer money just to be a dick.

Re:Frivilous Law Suit

[Anonymous Coward]

Uber IS a cab company.

There are some good reasons for this

[Actually, I do RTFA]

Some good reasons I can think of off the top of my head:

1. It helps for planning purposes to know how many houses are homes and how many are short term rentals.
2. This helps catch people whose lease forbids short-term rentals (e.g. in rent-controlled or subsidized apartments) who are using Air BnB
3. People are dodging the taxes associated with (and already in place) for short term rentals
4. Short term rentals often conflict with long term sustainable housing. Which SF has an issue with already. Limiting the stock of this is an important aspect of city planning.
5. Renting property can be dangerous (there are sleeping/vulnerable travelers there) so being able to involve the government in revoking a license is a good thing. It can also be used to deny people with sufficiently criminal records.

I'm sure there are more, but I only had a few moments to consider it. Conversely, the $50, and fill out a form seem like remarkably low burdens to impose. I mean, "I'm suing because this form isn't online" is pretty stupid.

Re:Frivilous Law Suit

[Anonymous Coward]

Why do people keep trying to make this about the hotel industry? Airbnb is fucking up the entire real estate market which is already horrible enough in SF of all places. Landlords are turning apartments into hotel rooms to make a bit more money, reducing housing availability and driving up prices in a city that already has a desperate shortage of it.

Real estate and tourism

[PraiseBob]

There are a number of cities that rely on the tourism industry that are undergoing negative changes due to AirBnb.

More rooms are available -> Hotels cant charge as much for rooms due to competition, and collect less taxes for the city. So the city has more tourists to support, but less tax revenue
Real estate prices go up -> Long term residents have incentive to sell/rent, renters have incentive to live elsewhere

It's similar to gentrification, but instead of replacing poor people with yuppies, its replacing residents with absentee landlords. There are increases in tourist dollars to local businesses, but less money from local residents. The overall effect is unhealthy for the city as a whole, since it drives residents away. Ultimately a city cant survive without locals who actually live in it.

Re:Frivilous Law Suit

[Holi]

Why should people follow building codes? Why should hotels and restaurants follow health codes?
Because we as a people have decided to enact laws that require them to follow the rules to make things safer for us, and because people have proven time and time again, that on their own they will cut corners to make an extra buck.