Airbnb, 3 hosts sue New York City, say registration requirements are intrusive and unfair
NEW YORK -- Airbnb is taking on the Big Apple.
The company, along with three local hosts, just filed a lawsuit against the city to loosen restrictions for short-term rentals.
Rupi Arora has lived in her Forest Hills home for two decades. A few years back she began renting out her spare bedroom on Airbnb.
"I needed some extra income. Also, I started to get lonely since I stopped working," Arora said.
She is now one of the Airbnb hosts, along with the company, itself, filing lawsuits against New York City over its new limits on short-term rentals.
Attorney Debbie Greenberger represents the hosts.
"It's basically a de facto ban on short-term rentals in New York, which we find concerning," Greenberger said.
The law, which the city plans to start enforcing next month, requires short-term rental hosts to register with the city.
Hosts also have to be present in the home for the duration of the stay, and are banned from having locked doors inside their home.
"This creates, really, a series of red tape that makes even lawful hosting probably unlikely to happen," Greenberger said.
City Councilman Justin Brannan sponsored the bill, which is now a law, and calls the suit laughable.
"We're in the throes of a housing crisis and the lack of affordability in our housing stock is obviously impacted when thousands of units are taken offline and held hostage by Airbnb when New Yorkers are struggling to find housing," Brannan said.
Brannan says the problem isn't mom-and-pop hosts like Arora. It's landlords who rent out multiple apartments.
"This isn't about someone renting a spare bedroom to help pay their mortgage. That's not what we're talking about and I think Airbnb likes to hide behind that," Brannan said.
When asked what she hopes to accomplish with the lawsuit, Arora said, "They look at it and say we're not going to go after people who just have one home or are making little bit of income. Go after people who own eight, 10 properties."
City Hall is reviewing the suit. A spokesman told CBS2, "This administration is committed to protecting safety and community livability for residents, preserving permanent housing stock, and ensuring our hospitality sector can continue to recover and thrive."