Rohan Gilkes, Ronnia Cherry and Stefan Grant all experienced discrimination while using Airbnb, so they decided to do something about it. Now two home-share services catering to black travelers, Noirbnb and Noirebnb, are hitting the market.

Airbnb has been hit with yet another accusation of hosts discriminating against guests on its site. In this case, TV writer and producer Shadi Petosky says she was denied housing by a potential host in Minneapolis after she disclosed to the host that she is transgender.

Using the San Francisco methodology, he determined that 53 per cent of the 3,424 active listings in Vancouver as of last December were being run by commercial hosts – people who were renting anywhere from one to 20-plus units and didn’t live in any of them.

Last year, Shadi Petosky was denied a room listed on Airbnb because she was transgender. After Petosky told the host she was transgender in a message, the host replied to say she would not be able to rent the space because she had a son.

When Kuno and Jessica Copeland’s neighbor moved out of their quiet San Francisco neighborhood, they had no idea their life was about to be turned completely upside down.

One of the largest vacation rental sites, Airbnb, is under major scrutiny and being hit with a class-action suit for discrimination against its African-American users. The class-action suit that was held in Washington D.C. federal court on Tuesday was due to the allegations that Airbnb violated the Fair Housing Act.

You might call it the front line in a widening war over the sharing economy.

At a hearing on regulating Airbnb a few days ago, one witness, a long-haired 30-something yoga instructor from Jefferson Park, told the City Council that he just loves the serendipity of meeting a new guest in his backroom every few days, someone with whom he can discuss gardening. Besides, he added, the income he gets from renting out part of his home means he can volunteer at Cook County Jail as a free yoga instructor.

San Francisco is home to one of the most expensive housing markets in the country. With rent prices soaring, more and more people are looking to earn some extra cash by renting out their homes to tourists through websites like Airbnb and Craigslist.

Lincoln Park resident and property owner David Lissner, 64, and others said they have no problem with people renting out rooms. “I’m all for people making money,” Lissner said. But he doesn’t want his neighborhood to resemble a college fraternity party.