3 ms·
Renter in NYC here (looks like you're one as well). * I didn't lose the ability to rent my apartment out - that was always against the rules/law. My LL just pu
by manacit 10y ago
Renter in NYC here (looks like you're one as well).
* I didn't lose the ability to rent my apartment out - that was always against the rules/law. My LL just put in new electronic locks in on my building to make sure it was significantly harder to lend apartments in the building out on Airbnb.
* As far as affordable places for family, I've always dissuaded them from renting from a largely unregulated market where quality can be difficult to determine in advance and the pitfalls of renting something unsavory could be bedbugs or worse. I live in a neighborhood well served by fairly affordable hotels nearby (in Manhattan!) which can be price competitive with Airbnb, and significantly more regulated.
I view this as a positive - this law did not change anyone's ability to rent out a bedroom in an apartment or house that they are also staying in, and stays over 30 days are still legal. It feels like a win/win to me.
- danielweber 10y ago> My LL just put in new electronic locks in on my building to make sure it was significantly harder to lend apartments in the building out on Airbnb. Can you explain this part? What do the electronic locks do to discourage lending?
- goatsi 10y agoI would imagine that it uses a keyfob system that is harder to duplicate than just getting a key cut and easier to revoke access to than changing a lock. See this news story for an example of this type of lock in action: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/airbnb-guest-locked-out-of-suite-by-strata-1.3786500 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/airbnb-guest-...
- manacit 10y agoLike goatsi said below, it makes it much harder to duplicate than a metal key, and tracks the times and fob IDs of everyone using it to get in the building. Instead of being able to run to Home Depot and get a key copy for $3 that you can hand out to whomever you're lending the apartment to, you'd need to copy your fob or lend them yours. This makes it fairly trivial to lock a single fob out, and there are timestamps that can be corroborated with the camera in the building lobby, to see who was using the fob to get into the building. Of course, cursory Googling when they were handed out shows that it's not that difficult to clone the model of key they handed out, but it's still a big 'win' over everyone having the same key.