New York’s City Council is crafting a bill that would require online home-sharing companies to provide the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement with the addresses of their listings — a potential blow to Airbnb if its users are found to be turning rent-regulated apartments into businesses in a city lacking in housing, Politico New York reported Tuesday.
The New York City bill, expected to be introduced within the next month and certain to be opposed vigorously by Airbnb, would also require home-sharing hosts to give the mayor’s office their full names and addresses, which would reveal whether or not they are renting out their own homes. Current state law bars online platforms from enabling rentals for fewer than 30 days, unless the host is present, in most apartment buildings.
Hosts would have to report whether they are renting their entire home or just a room and whether it is their primary residence, according to details shared with Politico by several people with knowledge of the legislation.
The City Council’s lawyers are still determining the scope of penalties, which would be applied to each listing that hosts shield from the reporting requirements.
The report comes as both hotel industry representatives and Airbnb dial up rhetoric about the pros and cons of home sharing in the city.