Airbnb and their policies haven’t earned the company much favor with cities. The company had to go as far as suing New York and San Francisco.
Airbnb sued New York City after the state’s governor made it illegal to rent out a space for thirty days without the owner of said space being there. San Francisco was sued by the company due to the fact that the city has a law stating homeowners need to register their property with the federal government before listing their homes for rental. Somehow though the company seems to be trying to make things right, starting off with New Orleans.
Recently the company created a set of guidelines that will better aid in the cooperation between them and the city of New Orleans. Airbnb agreed to provide the city’s government with names of home owners including their address. The hosts would then in turn register and obtain permits, with the city, for leasing out their homes.
The company agreed to collect taxes on short-term hotel stays and even cap the number of days homeowners can rent out their houses. In order to sooth the hotel industry, Airbnb also conceded to end rentals in the French Quarter. These are compromises that Airbnb would have clearly rejected in the past but is more than willing to work with the city of New Orleans to enforce these agreements.
Airbnb’s new change in demeanor when it comes to New Orleans may be a new change for the company to make things right with other cities along with settling the lawsuits with New York and San Francisco. According to the New York Times Laura Spanjian, public policy manager for Airbnb, said, “This is just the beginning. We need to make sure that the rules work and that the city can enforce them, but we want this to be a model going forward.”
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