A new bill in New York State is awaiting the confirmation by Governor Andrew Cuomo, which may soon ban all advertisements of empty apartments on Airbnb.
On Friday, 17th June, the bill got approved by New York State. But, the Governor will take the final decision.
New York already prohibits the citizens to rent unoccupied flats to complete strangers. The new law mainly aims to stop commercial firms from renting unoccupied apartments to Airbnb.
First-time offenders will have to pay a fine of $1000 and repeat offenders will have to pay $7500.
Josh Meltzer of Airbnb commented, “Let’s be clear: this is a bad proposal that will make it harder for thousands of New Yorkers to pay the bills. Dozens of governments around the world have demonstrated that there is a sensible way to regulate home sharing and we hope New York will follow their lead and protect the middle class.”
Linda Rosenthal of the State Assembly stated, “There are so many units held by commercial operators, not individual tenants. They are bad actors who horde multiple units, driving up the cost of housing around them and across the city.”
Rosenthal also mentioned that it can be dangerous to rent apartments on Airbnb.
Airbnb is about to endure a huge financial loss, as New York is considered to be one of the biggest markets for the company. It is estimated that Airbnb contributes almost $60 million tax money to the state of New York.
Travellers, who rely solely on Airbnb, should search for hotel brochures now.
Tags: New York,
