Ground Zero For Airbnb Abuses

Residents of Hell’s Kitchen, New York City are taking the building’s manager and board president to court claiming their luxury building has become an illegal, short-term rental “gulag”. One 74 year old condo owner was fined $2,500 for “incitement of violence” for allegedly harassing and assaulting people in the building. In October 2018, the 475 unit building was included in a city-wide crackdown on short-term rentals. Residents have made over 100 complaints to a city hotline. A new city law expected to take effect in February 2019 is expected to increase the number of summonses issued.

A lawsuit has been filed to stop the new law. Residents in The Atelier have taken to following tourists through the building to document illegal short-term use abuses. In San Francisco, a couple has agreed to pay a $2.25 million legal settlement for renting 14 apartments out as Airbnb units. San Francisco requires people renting their homes for short-term use to live in them at least 275 nights a year and rent them for no more than 90 days during that time. Condo corporations with a declaration allowing short-term rentals continue to allow them.