Airbnb Pulls 2,233 Listings Ahead of Illegal Hotel Ad Law
Increasingly the subject of criticism from state legislators and advocacy groups, Airbnb reported Thursday that it had removed 2,223 more listings from the site that may have been illegal hotels under the current law, according to the New York Post. Governor Cuomo may soon sign a bill that would make it illegal to advertise these listings–i.e. those available for fewer than 30 days in buildings with more than three units where the original tenant isn’t present–in deference to claims that these illegal hotels are removing much-needed stock from the pool of available housing for those who need it. 6sqft recently cited a new report claiming that 56 percent of the company’s New York City listings were illegal.
The company said it had taken down 2,233 listings that had been posted by hosts with multiple apartments available, which pointed to the likelihood of those listings being illegal hotel operations. 1,585 of the nixed listings were in Manhattan (around 600 in Midtown). The company had already removed 1,500 New York City listings from the platform in response to calls for tighter regulation.
According to Bloomberg, the company said that in the year ending June 1, 2016, 41,373 New York listings had appeared on Airbnb in all, and that the median annual compensation a host receives from an Airbnb rental in New York City is $5,474. The new law, recently passed by both houses of the city’s legislature, is the latest effort to reign in the ill effects of the growing Airbnb presence in cities Like New York and San Francisco by making it illegal to advertise rooms that aren’t in compliance with the law. In response to the criticism and concern that a shadowy hotel business is on the rise, the company says that 96 percent of the city’s hosts who are renting out their entire home only advertise one listing.
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