Airbnb is now being used by many travelers in different parts of the world. One of the company's biggest markets today is New York City of the United States. Despite the large market in the city, the company issued a lawsuit about six weeks ago against New York and its officials regarding a city law about short-term rentals that may affect the company greatly. However, the company recently foregone the said lawsuit.
The short-term rental law of New York City was executed way back in the year 2010. The said law requires proprietors, who are leasing irregular apartments and those who are advertising them for less than 30 days, a fine of about $7,500. According to reports from Travel Weekly and Business Insider, since Airbnb falls under the category of the prohibition in this law, the company reacted through filling a lawsuit last October.
However, the company discarded the filed lawsuit and arranged an agreement with New York City regarding the short-term rental law. The agreement, as said by Mayor Bill de Blasio, one of the city's spokeswoman, states that the law would be applicable to individual proprietors and thus making Airbnb an exemption of the law.
Upon confirming with the city's agreement, Airbnb will work hand in hand with New York in protecting locals and travelers alike from illegal apartment hosts. So far, Airbnb has eliminated over 3,400 listings form proprietors posting numerous listings. According to a statement from the company, "We look forward to using this as a basis to finding an approach that protects responsible New Yorkers while cracking down on illegal hotels that remove permanent housing off the market or create unsafe spaces." The company sees this situation to be "a material step forward" for the company's hosts. Further plans with regards to imposing the short-rental laws of New York will be decided this December 19.
