Airbnb vs. New York City: A Skift Timeline

01.09.2023 - 04:39 / skift.com / New Yorkers / Rashaad Jorden

Airbnb and New York City have often had a tough relationship, one marked by lawsuits and other disputes. Airbnb has argued that New York City’s regulations have hurt its ability to do business, which the company believes will become more challenging when the city starts enforcing its host registration law regarding short-term rentals on September 5.

The back and forth goes back at least 10 years as seen in the timeline below. We used Ask Skift, our AI tool that relies on our own past reporting, and added additional reporting as well.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman subpoenaed user records from Airbnb as part of an investigation into hosts that violate the state’s short-term rental laws. Airbnb issued a statement saying it would not cooperate with the subpoena.

David Hantman, Airbnb’s head of public policy, argued on the company’s blog that “the vast majority of these hosts are everyday New Yorkers who occasionally share the home in which they live.” Skift reported that Airbnb contested that most rentals on the platform aren’t with those hosts but with those who manage properties for others or from landlords that illegally taken their units off the market.

Airbnb told Schneiderman that compiling data about its hosts and occupancy levels was too burdensome. So Skift turned to data extraction and monitoring firm Connotate to gather detailed information about hosts in New York City.

Connotate’s research found that roughly two-thirds of Airbnb’s New York City listings were breaking the law. Skift had reported the previous year that at least half of those listings were illegal.

Judge Gerald W. Connolly ruled that Schneiderman’s subpoena for Airbnb user data was too broad and the company’s request to quash it would be granted. Schneiderman’s office said in response it would be reissuing a subpoena to address what it described “a narrow technical issue.”

The New York City Council held a nearly eight-hour hearing to discuss the state-term rentals in the city, which attracted both representatives from Airbnb and critics of the platform. Airbnb said it wanted to see the state change a law that makes it illegal to rent an entire apartment for less than 30 days in a month in New York City.

Skift reported that multiple studies have shown most activity on Airbnb in New York City involves the host breaking that state law.

New York City unveiled plans to spend $10 million over three years to help crack down on illegal hotels and rentals in the city. That funding went to the the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, which targets illegal short-term rentals and hotels. The money was designed to help gather data to find illegal operators and launch a public awareness campaign.

Legislators in Albany