Uncategorized – Fairbnb

No room for privacy: How Airbnb fails to protect guests from hidden cameras

Fairbnb — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 21:35:52 +0000

CNN, July 9, 2024

It was another lawsuit brought by another victim whose fun-filled vacation turned into a voyeuristic nightmare: A woman was secretly recorded undressing at a rental property, her images stored on the computer of an alleged sexual predator accused of spying on unsuspecting renters for years.

Airbnb, one of the world’s largest short-term rental companies, had seen this sort of scenario before. Typically, the company seeks to settle hidden camera cases quickly and confidentially.

But this one played out differently.

An Airbnb representative testifying at a court-ordered deposition early last year offered a rare glimpse of the company’s hidden camera problem: Airbnb has generated tens of thousands of customer support tickets related to surveillance devices in the last decade.

Short-term rentals need regulation

Fairbnb — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 12:42:17 +0000

CANADIANS are struggling with the affordability of housing, as both renters and homebuyers find themselves spending more to keep a roof over their heads. Winnipeg is no exception. Our city is among six Canadian municipalities in which rent prices are dangerously outpacing wages, according to a 2022 report by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. As the provincial government sells Manitoba Housing stock, many households are on a waitlist for affordable housing, and increasing numbers of our neighbours find themselves forced into encampments. Winnipeg is facing a poverty crisis that only stands to be exacerbated by the potential for unregulated short-term rentals. Local governments across the country have learned the hard way that increasing the number of residential units won’t help if they just get permanently converted to quasi-hotel space. Ever more jurisdictions in Canada are implementing or tightening regulations for short-term rentals. Given the rising housing and affordability crisis, as civic election day approaches in Winnipeg, it is surprising how silent council and mayoral candidates have been when it comes to addressing this issue. We are already in the midst of an affordability crisis, and the twin pressures of inflation and shrinking vacancy rates are poised to make residents’ lives harder. The experiences of other cities show that when Airbnb and other platforms grow their inventory at an exponential rate, housing costs are driven up by catering to higher-paying tourists rather than long-term residents. This trend will similarly increase housing prices and rental rates in Winnipeg. City planning follows guidelines instituted by elected levels of government, and housing is planned, zoned and approved in Winnipeg using this process. When homes can be turned wholesale into dedicated Airbnb hotel inventory, communities experience a wide range of adverse impacts. When a house or condo unit next to you has been turned into a full-time short-term rental, you will quickly learn what it’s like to live next to, at best, a revolving door of strangers or, at worst, next to a party house. Everyone loves dedicated Airbnbs when on vacation, but no one loves living next to one. But isn’t there a way for residents to supplement their income through short-term rentals, without removing housing or risking community disruptions? Sure there is, but it requires thoughtful regulation and genuine partnership with renters and owners. To be clear, we are not suggesting a ban on short term rentals; rather, we are hoping Winnipeg can institute a reasonable policy that balances a modern reality with fair policies for our residents. To address current short-term rental problems and avoid future ones, Winnipeg should learn from the experiences of numerous other Canadian jurisdictions that have implemented what we consider to be fair rules. We suggest municipalities such as the City of Winnipeg consider instituting a principal-residence requirement. Such a requirement allows long-term residents, be they homeowners or long-term tenants, to rent out their own homes on platforms such as Airbnb, but Airbnb’s hosts can’t buy up, lease-up or otherwise acquire homes to turn them into full-time short-term rentals. This policy follows the original spirit of Airbnb, rather than the current disruptive model. A principal-residence requirement has two added advantages. First, it allows residents to rent out their own home while away, supplementing income while protecting the loss of housing, as investment properties are excluded from the short-term rental market. Second, restricting short-term rental use to principal residences dramatically reduces community and neighbourhood disruptions, as hosts rent out their own homes and, unlike absentee landlords, tend to have real relationships with their neighbours. In April, the city began a consultation process to address the regulation of short term rentals. It closed this summer, and with a formal report expected later this year, it is odd that civic-election candidates have not addressed this issue. Consultation is certainly a step forward, but an election is also a perfect time to have an open debate about the merits of short-term rental regulation. Winnipeg’s housing market is still somewhat affordable compared to other cities, and with regard to short-term rentals, we can learn from best practices in other Canadian municipalities. Failing to regulate short-term rentals risks contributing to growing inequality and unaffordability of shelter, a basic human right. Regulating this sector will protect our housing stock, minimize disruptive short-term use and keep our city affordable. As election day draws closer, the question we have for aspiring members of council is this: are you up to the challenge? Zach Fleisher is a policy specialist in Winnipeg. JJ Fueser and Thorben Wieditz work with the FairBnB coalition. Bookmark and Share

‘We’ve had parties every single weekend since the beginning of the pandemic’: Toronto residents dismiss Airbnb’s new party ban

Fairbnb — Fri, 21 Aug 2020 15:40:39 +0000

Airbnb’s announcement on Thursday that the company will impose an indefinite global ban on all parties and events at properties booked through the online platform was met with skepticism by Toronto residents who have been fighting for years for tighter controls.

A Toronto condo complex just banned all Airbnb due do to coronavirus

Fairbnb — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 13:55:44 +0000

A condo complex in Toronto known for its high volume of Airbnb units is prohibiting all short term rentals amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Toronto Airbnb hosts ponder selling as bookings vanish

Fairbnb — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 13:53:48 +0000

On March 19, the Hotel Association of Canada warned that the industry “has completely crashed over the past 10 days” with the national occupancy average falling to under 10 per cent as the country closes its borders to most international travellers and prepares to shut down non-essential traffic between Canada and the U.S. later this week.

Too many lives have been claimed in unsupervised “ghost hotels.” It’s time for Airbnb to do the right thing and de-list them, says coalition.

Fairbnb — Sat, 01 Feb 2020 15:41:47 +0000

Toronto, February 1, 2020 – Late last night, a shooting at a rented Airbnb claimed the lives of three people in a downtown Toronto condo. This tragedy is the latest in a string of violent incidents in commercial short-term rentals, occurring just weeks after a fatal shooting at an Airbnb in Ottawa.

Toronto’s Airbnb market has become crowded with “ghost hotels,” homes that have been taken out of the long-term rental market by absentee hosts, to be used as full-time tourist rentals. The highest density of “ghost hotels” in Toronto is found in Toronto’s waterfront community.

Since 2017, Toronto has had rules on the books that limit home-sharing to a host’s principal residence. Yet Airbnb bankrolled an appeal to regulations designed to keep residents and visitors safe. The Local Planning and Appeal Tribunal upheld Toronto’s rules in late October, but a group of Airbnb hosts has announced plans to launch a further appeal at Ontario’s Divisional Court.

“The wait for Airbnb regulations to be enforced puts families like ours at risk,” explained waterfront resident Rebecca Young. “We rent in the downtown core so we can walk to school and our jobs – it’s a great quality of life. Unfortunately, we are surrounded by apartments full of short-term rentals, not neighbours. This tragedy reminds us that we are choosing liveability over safety, which is an upsetting choice in a modern city.”

Following a fatal shooting at an Airbnb unit in October 2019, Airbnb pledged to take steps to shut down risky and disruptive “party houses.”

But instead of de-listing ghost hotels, the company attempted to identify potential party house listings by combing through the social media accounts of guests and hosts– a strategy appears not only to be intrusive, but also ineffective.

“There’s no more time for half-measures,” said Fairbnb spokesperson Thorben Wieditz. “Airbnb can show it takes the lives of guests and neighbours seriously by following Toronto’s regulations, de-listing “ghost hotels,” and ending its support for hosts’ appeals.”

Airbnb quietly shut down a top host amid scathing reviews, but hundreds of guests were left to stay with him

Fairbnb — Sun, 25 Aug 2019 22:13:36 +0000

Airbnb has taken dramatic action against one of its biggest hosts in Canada, shutting down his account last week and others linked to it following a CBC investigation that found they were listing the same properties under different names, boosting each others’ ratings and — according to hundreds of reviews — misleading guests about the state of the accommodations.

New York City starts cracking down on illegal Airbnb listings

Fairbnb — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 21:39:05 +0000

New York’s ban on short-term rentals has officially started cracking down. As the New York Post reports, a notorious Manhattan landlord and a Brooklyn real estate broker were hit with 17 total violations of the new law. Each violation carries a $1,000 fine…

Airbnb Is on Its Way to Becoming One of the World’s Largest Travel Companies

Fairbnb — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 16:34:29 +0000

Airbnb is quickly becoming a crucial company within the travel sector and may even become the fourth largest online travel company by the end of this year, according to research firm Phocuswright…

Airbnb grows 172-pct in Sri Lanka to 8000 properties

Fairbnb — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 15:43:00 +0000

AirBnB, an online booking engine listing rooms and apartments said it had seen a 172 percent growth in listing in Sri Lanka to 8,000 properties in the 12-month to June, an official said. Sri Lankan themselves were not yet big users of AirBnB with only 6000, guests, he said. But growth was 200 percent over the past year. Sri Lanka is now bringing tighter regulations to force small start-up to register with the state tourism authority and get a 'star' classification and pay it annual fees....