Airbnb Faces Challenges in NYC, San Francisco

A new report is blaming the short-term home-sharing service Airbnb for removing thousands of housing units from the New York City market while driving up rents across the city.

According to a New York Daily News report, the advocacy groups Housing Conservation Coordinators and MFY Legal Service published a study that identified approximately 8,000 New York City-based Airbnb listings that were advertised with such regularity—and for time spans lasting up to three months out of the year—that they could be considered as unlicensed lodging. The report stated that putting those units back into the housing market would boost the city’s rental vacancy level by 10 percentage points from its current rate of 3.45 percent.

Separately, Airbnb has filed a lawsuit against the municipal government of its hometown, San Francisco. CNN reports that the company is seeking to block a new ordinance taking effect next month that requires all Airbnb hosts to register with the city, or else the company would be fined up to $1,000 a day for each unregistered listing. Complicating matters is a requirement for registrations to made in person at municipal offices, rather than online.

Airbnb charges the city violates the Communications Decency Act, Stored Communications Act and the First Amendment. The city did not publicly comment on the lawsuit.