Now that data collected over the past year shows that 5,000 units are being listed through AirBnB, the City of Vancouver is working on a short-term-rental bylaw…

A day after Gov. Charlie Baker said he would sign a Senate proposal to extend the state’s hotel tax to short-term rentals like Airbnb in order to expand a tax credit for low and middle income families, he issued a statement backtracking. Baker said Friday he would not sign the Senate’s version of the bill after all. “In its current form, the governor is unable to support the Senate’s version, as the estimated revenue generated would fall far short of the costs of expanding the (Earned Income Tax Credit),” said Baker spokesman Billy Pitman. The comments came a day after Baker said on WGBH’s Boston Public Radio that he would sign the bill, as a way to create “a level playing field” between the hotel industry and Airbnb….

While the tax is significant given that it will cut into hosts’ revenue, it remains to be seen whether it will be enough to ultimately trump the convenience and opportunity Airbnb offers homeowners in need of additional income over the course of the year. For travelers booking through Airbnb, the initial impact of these taxes could result in more expensive nightly rates as hosts look to make that money back. While some may be driven to bypass an Airbnb listing for a hotel room, renters will likely continue to benefit from the sheer volume of listings and the competition that results….

Vernon Hills is close to approving a ban on short-term vacation rentals often arranged through sites like Airbnb. Mayor Roger Byrne called for research on the topic earlier in July when officials noticed Vernon Hills homes listed on the sites. Village trustees on July 19 voted unanimously to prohibit the activity after reviewing uncertainties surrounding the new trend. Trustees Barbara Williams and Cindy Hebda were absent from the meeting. “If we deem to allow the Airbnb-kind of operation to exist, that would create a regulatory burden to us,” Village Trustee James Schultz said. “Let me be clear, I suggest that we create the language needed to prohibit (this).”…

An email was sent to all Los Angeles Airbnb hosts Monday informing them about the change. The email states: “For reservations booked in the City of Los Angeles on or after August 1, 2016, guests will see a charge for the occupancy tax. The tax will be listed separately and added to the total amount paid by guests on applicable stays—hosts will not have to do anything extra.” The agreement with the city comes as the Los Angeles City Council considers regulating Airbnb sites. Critics charge the home-sharing company is depleting the rental market and changing the character of some neighborhoods by driving out renters and bringing in tourists….

A Far Rockaway houseboat belonging to a TV cooking show host and occasional underground lobster roll purveyor was sunk by unruly Airbnb guests over the weekend, according to online posts by the foodie, Ben Sargent. Sargent hosts the Cooking Channel’s Hook, Line & Dinner and rose to prominence in part through his goofy lobster-roll-vending alter ego Dr. Klaw, an Ali G-like drug dealer caricature with a knack for setting up photo shoots with New York publications and, by all accounts, making and vending tasty lobster rolls. The Department of Health didn’t approve of his unlicensed operation and shut him down in 2010. Until last weekend, Sargent was also renting out a houseboat named Ziggy Stardust at Far Rockaway’s Marina 59 on Jamaica Bay, once home to the bug-and-art-infused Boatel, a floating DIY hotel concocted by a group of artists to levels of fanfare on par with Dr. Klaw. Sargent is in the process of reviving the Dr. Klaw shtick via an elaborate Kickstarter campaign seeking $45,000 to stage a “live action treasure hunt” consisting of Sargent driving up and down the coast on a motorcycle decked out to look like a lobster, seeking to “track down” Dr. Klaw and stage invite-only seafood parties. Regarding Saturday night’s sinking of the Ziggy Stardust, Sargent wrote on his blog, “I’m very bummed to tell you that one of Dr. Klaw’s best hideaways is now sitting under 15’ of water due to a bad group of renters.”…

New technology is disrupting all kinds of industries, everything from newspapers and taxis to music and now hotels. The latest technology allows homeowners to rent out rooms of their
house, or sometimes the entire house. That’s causing alarm among lawmakers, who are now engaged in an effort to craft new kinds of regulations. For many neighborhoods across Virginia, the dawn of the new Airbnb era has brought with it a sense of uncertainty
— a watchful and suspicious eye toward strangers parading in and out of their neighborhoods. Mike Rioux says his Fairfax County neighborhood was recently transformed into a location shot by an Airbnb rental on his street. “It started at 7 o’clock in the morning.
They erected tents in the street, blocked mailboxes, had all kinds of trucks. I mean this is totally outside the bounds of what’s acceptable to us as far as what we think Airbnb should be doing.” During a recent hearing in Richmond, lawmakers heard from speaker
after speaker about how their neighborhoods have been transformed from quiet suburban streets into clandestine commercial strips….

Oakland’s City Council is calling for an ordinance to regulate short term-housing offered through transient hosting websites like Airbnb, VRBO and HomeAway. Citing the increase in tourism and major conventions coming to Oakland in recent years, as well as the strain on the city’s affordable housing stock, City Council members are directing the Planning and Building Department and the City Planning Commission to bring an ordinance forward within six months to regulate and tax the use of short-term rental platforms. “The City of Oakland embraces the new sharing economy market, however, the City has yet to uniformly permit, regulate and collect taxes from all of these new entities,” the City Council noted in a report. “It is the desire of City Council to allow for legal Short Term Residential Platforms under a regulatory system that protects the residential character of neighborhoods, maintains the quality of life of existing residents, and preserves existing rental housing stock, especially affordable rental units.”…