New York State will now fine those who rent out homes and apartments illegally:
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law that will fine residents who rent out their apartments for illegal short-term stays, striking a blow against Airbnb in one of its most important markets. Airbnb said it would file a lawsuit immediately to block the measure. The fines for those who advertise vacant apartments in a multi-unit building for 30 days or less could be as high as $7,500 for repeat offenders. Airbnb has acknowledged this rule is ignored by thousands of members. People are allowed to rent out a room in their house or apartment while they are also staying there, however.
The law will also fine residents for simply advertising an illegal rental listing. Airbnb tried to offer concessions to prevent the bill from passing. Also at ABC, ConsumerAffairs, and Reuters.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2016, @08:34PM
In Americaw we all love profit, and we all hate business-killing regulations (and labor unions, and socialism).
Unless it's the dirty peons trying to profit from their own meager capital (ie. their home or vehicle) in which case fuck 'em... that's not allowed. Who do they think they are anyway?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2016, @09:16PM
Hey, those big companies need protection. Without their lobby efforts, what else would they have?
#savebigbusiness
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2016, @09:21PM
Err, wait.
Your actually blaming capitalism for this even though this is a natural extension of communal sensibilities ("what will it do to MY property values") instead of the libertarian sensibility of doing what you like with your own property (standard exceptions apply before some pendant makes the argument of dumping toxic sludge ornamentally).
How many hoops did you have to jump through to get there?
(Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday October 22 2016, @09:39PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2016, @09:51PM
Tell us how your furnace is Jew-fueled.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by archfeld on Saturday October 22 2016, @10:23PM
Rampant American corporatism is not capitalism. Large corporations have made it illegal to interfere with their right to all the profit. A small business has no place attempting to make a buck.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 23 2016, @04:25AM
The argument was against capitalism, not corporatism. Or more precisely corruption, and capitalism hasn't cornered the market in that.
And if you really want to belabor the point, corporatism is socialism for the well-connected.
The legal justifications for this don't originate from investing in business shares as much NIMBYism of people promoting a collective right to dictate how private property should conform to their whims, whether the collective is corporate or busybodies.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2016, @11:27PM
Once again this is rural vs. urban divide. When you live in an apartment building with many others, you don't relish the idea of unvetted strangers taking residence in your building for a week or two at a time.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2016, @09:41PM
Must bring own Douche.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2016, @09:50PM
In a perverse way, there's a certain appeal in having my very soul drained from my body in her deadeye embrace.
Kinda like that urge you feel to jump off the edge of a cliff.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2016, @09:55PM
You know you're that guy.
https://youtu.be/PdmzmOYM7DE [youtu.be]
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2016, @10:01PM
Needs more self-loathing and resignation to the abyss.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2016, @10:04PM
I guess you dont own your own place there.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2016, @11:57PM
Something something social contract!
(Score: 1) by tisI on Sunday October 23 2016, @05:58AM
American capitalism's cornerstone is free enterprise.
The people of New York should replace their governor. He's defective.
"Suppose you were an idiot...and suppose you were a member of Congress...but I repeat myself."
(Score: 4, Insightful) by AthanasiusKircher on Sunday October 23 2016, @02:18PM
I'd emphasize the following line from TFS:
People are allowed to rent out a room in their house or apartment while they are also staying there, however.
Just my personal opinion, but this seems like something close to common sense to me. A lot of these services have been represented as a more organized "couch-surfing" or "home-sharing" system. This legislation apparently won't disallow such things, which people have been doing forever.
The problematic aspect of things like Airbnb is what happens when you allow unoccupied apartments to be treated as "hotel rooms." There are all sorts of things that start happening (and have started happening), like people who buy up houses or rent out apartments in the city -- where housing is already ridiculously expensive -- to treat as "hotel rooms." That makes it harder for people who actually need to LIVE in the city longterm to find affordable housing.
Also, we generally have things like zoning laws for a reason. I've lived in apartment complexes. I would NOT want to live in an apartment complex where I was surrounded by de facto hotel rooms. Sure, most people who stay in hotels are fine, but the stats for complaints, minor crime, etc. are always worse for hotels than long-term residential areas.
A lot of this stuff can be mitigated by requiring owners to be around. It doesn't solve everything, but it seems like a common-sense way to prevent some major problems and have someone around to deal with them if they do arise.
I'm not going to comment on the "freedom" issues here. Maybe folks should be allowed legally to rent short-term even if they're not present to whomever they want. I'm just saying that personally I don't want to live in places where that's common.
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Sunday October 23 2016, @02:26PM
At least primarily not in this case. It is about local and state governments not being able to collect sales and occupancy taxes for such rentals. In Florida and I am sure other places these taxes are a major piece of state, county and municipal funding.