Wall Street Journal – Battle Over Airbnb Legislation Heats Up in Albany

May 4, 2017 Legislation that would carve exceptions into New York’s housing laws to allow for more Airbnb rentals has quickly spurred battle lines in Albany and set up a showdown likely to linger for months. Within days of the introduction of the bill in the state Legislature last weekend, a group of Democrats pushed […]

TWC News Capital Region (VIDEO) – Keeping Rental Regulations Intact

May 3, 2017 Lawmakers are speaking out against a proposal to roll back some of the regulations on short-term home rentals like Airbnb. As we discussed Tuesday, the company argues it is giving homeowners a chance to bring in some extra cash at a time when the cost of living is going up. But opponents […]

DNA Info – Assemblyman’s Pro-Airbnb Legislation Plagiarizes Lingo From Company’s Memo

May 3, 2017 A Brooklyn assemblyman’s written argument for his bill aimed at upending city laws governing short-term rentals plagiarizes several paragraphs from a memo by Airbnb. Joseph Lentol’s “one-host one-home” provision, introduced into the state Assembly on April 28, justifies the need for the law using two paragraphs written by the short-term rental company’s […]

NL Times – AMSTERDAM TO FINE AIRBNB LANDLORDS WHO DON’T REPORT THEIR LISTING

May 3, 2017 The city of Amsterdam is working on obliging residents who want to rent out their property through Airbnb, to report it to the municipality, housing alderman Laurens Ivens said to Nieuwsuur. Those who fail to report their listing, will be fined. “People must report it if they are going to rent out […]

Inc. – How Airbnb Responds When Guests Have Nightmare Experiences

May 3, 2017 On Monday, journalist Nathaniel Friedman unleashed a tweetstorm about his girlfriend’s bad experience as an Airbnb guest. She and two other friends needed a place to stay at the last minute, and all the local hotels were booked, in Friedman’s retelling. Since they were desperate, they looked past the bad reviews and […]

Albany Times Union – Lentol’s pro-Airbnb bill cribs paragraphs from Airbnb memo

May 2, 2017 It’s not unusual for a special interest group to have influence over state legislation. It’s lessen common for entire paragraphs to be taken directly from an interest group’s memo in support of its cause. That’s what happened in the case of a new bill introduced by Brooklyn Assemblyman Joe Lentol. The bill […]