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Bill Threatens to Make Short-Term Apartment Rentals Illegal

By DNAinfo Staff on June 29, 2010 4:34pm

A Harlem resident offers up bunk beds, separated from his living room by a makeshift curtain, for $50/night on Airbnb.com.
A Harlem resident offers up bunk beds, separated from his living room by a makeshift curtain, for $50/night on Airbnb.com.
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Airbnb.com

By Olivia Scheck

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — New Yorkers who earn extra cash by renting rooms to tourists may soon find themselves in violation of the law.

A new bill would crack down on landlords who convert apartments into hotel rooms without the city's permission. The bill passed the State Senate last week and now awaits a vote in the Assembly.

But some tenants, who rent out spare rooms or apartments on a short-term basis, worry that they too might be affected.

“This legislation is being painted as slumlords who convert apartments to illegal hotels,” Brian Chesky, co-founder and chief executive of Airbnb.com, a website that connects entrepreneurial tenants with frugal visitors, told the New York Times. “But as far as I can tell, this will affect thousands of families, young professionals and elderly people.”

The bill applies to anyone renting an apartment for fewer than 30 days in exchange for payment, though tenants who offer up their apartments for free are exempt from the law under a provision that's been dubbed "the cat-sitting situation."

Some of the city's most powerful politicians and lobbying groups have expressed support for the legislation, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, according to the Times.

The New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council and the Hotel Association, whose members have encountered substantial competition from the low-cost alternatives to traditional hotels, also came out in favor of the bill, the paper said.

Airbnb.com turned up 1087 listings for places to stay in New York City on the evening of June 29th.