Property owners in New York City who want to rent rooms or homes on Airbnb may soon be required to register with the city, and Airbnb will have to file monthly reports on its listings, Curbed New York reports.
Airbnb and other short-term rental agencies would face fines of $1,500 for each listing they fail to disclose.
The new regulations, passed unanimously by the City Council, is part of an ongoing effort by city officials to regulate short-term rentals that has also pitted Airbnb against lobbyists for New York’s hotel industry.
The measure still must be signed into law by Mayor Bill DiBlasio before it takes effect. It also is being challenged in court by a city homeowner who contends that the regulation and its enforcement by New York housing inspectors violates his civil rights.
Airbnb was harshly critical of the measure. “After taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the hotel industry, we’re not surprised the City Council refused to meet with their own constituents who rely on home sharing to pay the bills and then voted to protect the profits of big hotels,” said company spokesperson Liz DeBold Fusco.
“The fix was in from the start and now New Yorkers will be subject to unchecked, aggressive harassment and privacy violations, rubber stamped by the City Council.”
