NY Attorney General Issues Report Saying Most Airbnb Reservations Illegal
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Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued a report on Thursday finding that the majority of Airbnb reservations made in New York City in the last several years have been in violation of New York law.
Of more than 35,000 private, short-term listings on Airbnb, the Attorney General’s Office suggested that over 25,000 violated either New York State’s Multiple Dwelling Law and/or New York City’s Administrative Code. Illegal listings are believed to have generated about $304 million in revenue for hosts and $40 million for Airbnb.
Schneiderman’s office also said that more than 100 users were each controlling more than 10 different apartments regularly rented on Airbnb.
The report also says that “numerous units appear to serve as illegal hostels,” as “multiple, unrelated guests shared the same unit on the same night.”
The report “raises serious concerns about the proliferation of illegal hotels and the impact of Airbnb and sites like it on the City of New York,” Schneiderman said. “We must ensure that, as online marketplaces revolutionize the way we live, laws designed to promote safety and quality-of-life are not foresaken under the pretext of innovation.”
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