“Home-sharing” company Airbnb also had a big presence at the DNC as it sought to win over skeptical Democrats, including politicians in some liberal big cities who have made it harder for the company to operate. The company is facing allegations of racial discrimination and of negatively impacting the affordable housing supply. Still, of the nearly 40,000 people in Philadelphia for the convention, the company says 7,000 stayed in Airbnb properties, compared with 14,000 who booked hotels. Unions like UNITE-HERE contend that Airbnb is an illegal operation that takes business away from the hotels that many of its members work in. (UNITE-HERE and SEIU had a brief snafu earlier this year when SEIU announced it was partnering with Airbnb to ensure housekeepers were paid $15 an hour. Amid protest from UNITE-HERE, the union swiftly backtracked.)….

The city is reminding operators of short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, to register as new rules governing the popular home-sharing sites go into effect Monday. Under the regulations, all short-term rental hosts must pay an annual $25 registration fee and file with the Metro Revenue Commission to pay transient occupancy taxes each year. The rules were approved by Metro Council after months of deliberation that divided some neighbors on how the city should best handle the rise of home sharing as part of an expanding hospitality industry….

The city’s commissioner of the revenue is recommending a penalty for those who skip out on paying lodging taxes on short-term rentals that are booked through websites such as Airbnb. Phillip Kellam today will suggest to council members that they immediately change city code to fine or penalize such businesses that don’t pay. The city doesn’t forbid temporary lodging, but lacks regulations on short-term rentals in residential areas. “We do need an ordinance to help with the enforcement of this,” Kellam said. “It’s the fastest growing sector of the lodging market.” In April, a 20-year-old was shot and killed at a house that had been rented through Airbnb during College Beach Weekend. The home’s owner, a man from China, had not heard about the shooting until contacted by The Virginian-Pilot a few days later….

A WOMAN has described her horror after her apartment was turned into a makeshift brothel, littered with used condoms, dirty tissues and pregnancy tests, after she leased it out during her holiday abroad. Pernille Bang, 26, told Vice Denmark she put her Copenhagen apartment up for rent on a homesharing website similar to Airbnb for extra money during her holiday to Thailand. Little did she know woman who rented the apartment was a sex worker who used the apartment to service her clients — and, after Pernille discovered what was going on, refused to leave the premises without a refund….

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….

ALBANY – A coalition that includes developers and landlords has written to Gov. Cuomo asking him to sign into law a bill that would prohibit the advertising of illegal units on online home-sharing sites like Airbnb. “Enacting this bill would be an important step in the right direction toward eliminating illegal short-term rentals, which reduce the City’s housing supply, cause safety issues, increase building wear and tear costs, and create quality of life problems,” the groups wrote. The letter from the Real Estate Board of New York and the Rent Stabilization Board, among others, insists the legislation is not anti-technology but rather a new tool to crack down on a prior law that already makes home sharing in multifamily units in New York City illegal for less than 30 days illegal. Others signing on to the letter are the Community Housing Improvement Program, the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums, the Federation of New York Housing Cooperatives and Condominiums, and the New York State Association for Affordable Housing…

The bill has managed to unify real estate interests and union, tenant and affordable housing activists.

A spokesman for Gov. Cuomo said the bill is under review. Airbnb wants him to veto it.

Airbnb is suing the city of San Francisco, battling legislation in New York and fighting widespread allegations that some of its hosts discriminate against renters. Which might explain why it is trying to get ahead of such confrontations here, in a newly opened used bookstore in the gentrifying Washington neighborhood of Parkview. District resident Liz Furgurson, who uses the home-sharing site to rent out a room in her basement, is leading a group of 14 fellow hosts on a stroll through the neighborhood’s small businesses. The hope, she says, is to familiarize shop owners with Airbnb and to encourage hosts to recommend local businesses to visitors. “What’s the best way to send folks here?” Furgurson asks shop owner Pablo Sierra on a recent evening. This event, called a “merchant walk” and organized by Airbnb, feels like a casual neighborhood meet-and-greet. But its implications could be much larger for the San Francisco-based company, founded in 2008 and now reaching 2 million rental listings worldwide. The company hopes gatherings like these can help shore up support as it faces a number of regulatory measures, including one in the District. Legislation introduced in September
by D.C. Council member Vincent B. Orange (D-At Large) and backed by a hotel workers’ union would limit hosts to one listing at a time and require hosts to live on-site during guests’ stays. Rental units would have to be inspected by the city, and hosts would
have to notify neighbors of their rental plans….

If I could post an ad in a bus stop, it would read, “Dear Airbnb: You’re not a very good neighbor. For all that talk about being innovators, you’re really just out to make millions for your founders and investors, even if that means breaking the law while hiding behind your users and the First Amendment. Grow up, Airbnb. You’re a big business now — time to follow the rules. Love, Susan.”…

Renting a private house through sites like Airbnb will remain tax-free in Massachusetts after lawmakers abandoned a plan to extend hotel levies to short-term private lodgings. The Airbnb meaure was not included in a key economic development bill that emerged late Sunday night after marathon negotiations between House and Senate lawmakers. The plan’s defeat wasn’t a huge surprise: Governor Charlie Baker previously said he didn’t want to raise taxes on private rentals, and House lawmakers didn’t include a similar plan in their economic development bill….

Faced with the expansion of online rental platforms, there seems to be a growing consensus between many cities that intelligent regulation is needed to limit or prevent their negative impacts. And Rio is no exception: Vidigal – an area which has long been subject to gang violence and police “pacification” interventions – is already facing significant pressures from gentrification. Without proper regulation, ORPs are likely to intensify gentrification and displacement in favelas, rather than provide income support for Rio’s poorest residents….