On Thursday, Airbnb filed a lawsuit against New York City over a city regulation that the business claims places arbitrary limitations on short-term rentals and drastically reduces their availability.
The 2022 rule would force owners to register with the mayor’s office, disclose who else resides on the property, and commit to abide by zoning, construction, and maintenance ordinances.
The city wants to start implementing the 2022 ordinance next month.
The company was forced to file a lawsuit by Airbnb, which referred to the limitations as “extreme and oppressive” and a de facto ban against short-term rentals.
These registration scheme elements “apparently [are] intended to drive the short-term rental trade out of New York City for good,” according to Airbnb.
According to the corporation, the mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement “failed to consider reasonable alternatives.”
A request for comment from the mayor’s office was not immediately complied with.
The case was filed in Manhattan state court by the San Francisco-based Airbnb.
A related case was brought by three Airbnb hosts against the city.
In 2016, Airbnb filed a lawsuit against New York for prohibiting the promotion of short-term rentals.
When the city agreed not to enforce it, it threw out that lawsuit.
A legal dispute that Airbnb had with the town on the necessity of monthly reporting for its listings was resolved in 2020.
According to Airbnb, both settlements are broken by the 2022 ordinance.
The limits in New York are just one of many initiatives made by municipal governments to control short-term rentals without outright outlawing them.
After a court invalidated an earlier law, New Orleans is one of the cities going up against the rental industry titan.
Opponents in certain regions have voiced worries about noise and safety. Additionally, some claim that the rise of short-term rentals, which Airbnb helped pioneer, has resulted in a shortage of affordable accommodation for locals, particularly in tourist areas. These grievances go well beyond U.S. territory.
Thursday saw the immediate prohibition on new holiday rentals in Florence’s old district, a well-known tourist destination in Italy.
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