Online rental service Airbnb on Tuesday will face off against New York officials who are seeking data about Airbnb rentals they believe are in violation of city law.
The office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman last year subpoenaed Airbnb for rental records to determine if the company is in violation of a New York City law that bans rentals of 30 days or less if the owner of the property is not present.
Airbnb, however, claims that "the vast majority of our community members are regular New Yorkers just trying to make ends meet," and thinks New York needs to change its rental laws just as Hamburg, Amsterdam, and France have done, and San Francisco is considering. Changing the law in New York, Airbnb said, could raise $21 million in hotel taxes.
In defending its request, Schneiderman's office on Friday released data that found that 63.6 percent of the 19,522 New York City listings on Jan. 31 were for entire apartments. Only one of all those listings were for longer than 30 days.
But the data, pulled by a consultant using data extraction tool Connotate, does not provide a full and complete data set since it only covers what is on the Airbnb website, not in the company's database, according to Schneiderman. His office has thus requested more data from Airbnb, but the company wants the court to reject that request.
"The only way that the NYAG can investigate the illegal activities of the Hosts is for AirBnb to provide the subpoenaed information," according to Schneiderman's original November request. "AirBnb should not be allowed to effectively close an investigation before it even starts, or otherwise shield its Hosts from illegal conduct."
Airbnb, however, views it as a privacy violation. "If you're one of the thousands of New Yorkers who has ever rented out your place while you were away for a weekend, the Attorney General still wants to know who you are and where you live," according to Airbnb. "On Tuesday, Airbnb will be in court in Albany, fighting the Attorney General's demand for your data."
The New York City law in question dates back to 2010 and bans people from renting out entire apartments for less than 30 days, or effectively functioning as hotels. There is an exception if the permanent resident is present and has house guests or lawful boarders, roomers, or lodgers.
The law was necessary, the AG said, because illegal rentals can be dangerous, bothersome, and detrimental to lawful residents. Between 2006 and 2012, the city's "311" line received more than 2,500 complaints about illegal rental setups in their buildings.
"Unlike true hotels, apartment buildings do not have the security required to address" security concerns like overcrowding, trash, fights, and parties from temporary visitors. The city also pointed to landlords who pressured residents to move so they "pursue the more lucrative transient market."
According to Airbnb, however, "the small group of bad actors that abused our platform aren't part of the Airbnb community anymore, or they are on their way out the door."
For more, check out PCMag Live in the video below, which discusses the Airbnb issue.