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NYC Fines Airbnb Hosts For 'Illegal' Home Rentals (cnet.com)
In October, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law one of the nation's toughest restrictions on Airbnb, which includes hefty fines of up to $7,500 for people who rent out space in their apartments. Several month have passed and the New York Post has learned of "the first casualties of [the] newly enforceable law." The city has reportedly charged two hosts with a combined total of 17 violations, and since each violation comes with a $1,000 fine, it adds up to $17,000. From their report: Property owner Hank Freid -- who was once crowned one of NYC's "Worst Landlords" by a watchdog group in 2005 -- and real estate broker Tatiana Cames were slapped with 17 violations, at $1,000 apiece, for their allegedly illegal listings on Manhattan's Upper West Side and in Bedford-Stuyvesant, in Brooklyn, according to documents obtained by the Post. Freid, who manages the Marrakech Hotel, was hit with 12 violations for listing SROs in the building on several booking platforms, including Booking.com, Expedia, Kayak, Hotwire, Travelocity, and Orbitz, the citations reveal. Meanwhile, Cames -- who was served with five violations -- allegedly posted five separate listings to Airbnb advertising 320 Macon St, which records show she purchased for $2.15M in 2015. The Macon St. property was discovered to have inadequate fire alarms, sprinklers, illegal subdivisions, and a confused bunch of French tourists in a rear unit, according the procured documents. Cames appears to be making money off the vacancies in the building as she attempts to fill the space, as the same units are advertised as "for rent" on her personal website. The listings also seem to suggest that drawing illegal Airbnb-ers into BedStuy will help "diversify" the locale. If Freid and Cames don't pull their listings, they could be hit with a second set of violations, at $5,000 a pop.
No, residential areas are created to provide places to live. Period. Full Stop.
You don't get a veto over your neighbors, only who stays at YOUR house. . . . .
Just what we need - more government telling us what to do with our own damn homes.
Reason 124,151,813,523 Trump won.
What part of "The Macon St. property was discovered to have inadequate fire alarms, sprinklers, illegal subdivisions" you didn't get? Or maybe you missed the "Hank Freid was once crowned one of NYC's "Worst Landlords" by a watchdog group in 2005" part?
Newsflash: it might be your own damn home, but it's likely close to someone else' and, surprise surprise, you can't do as you please with it.
RT.
Since you brought up zoning... Some zoning laws don't allow hotels, motels, or a bed and breakfast to be operated in a residential zone. I'm not arguing for or against what NY is doing, I'm just making a point that these operations MAY be in violation of their local zoning laws.
I'm all for what Air BnB does, as long as the original intent is followed. If my neighbor wants to rent out his house while he's out of town, more power to him. I would start to object when a slumlord is buying up the houses in my neighborhood, pimping them out on a daily basis to whomever is passing through town, and not maintaining them.
I mean that is kind of the point of zoning laws, isn't it? If I don't want to live next to a motel (or smelter plant) I am pretty secure in knowing that one isn't going to be built next to my house 2 years after I buy it. And having a stable place to live, knowing who my neighbors are, knowing who I need to keep an eye on is part of the value of living in a residential neighborhood. I certainly don't have the ability to control who my neighbors are, but by choosing to live in a residential area I have a certain expectation that I won't have a new set of neighbors in the house next door every week.
Preposterous! Next you'll be saying that Uber doesn't match you up with someone going to the same place as you were going anyway in order to split the gas money! Have you no shame, sir?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."