4 ms·
As a resident in Manhattan where the situation of Airbnb renting facilitating illegal use of apartments. We pay a lot of money to have security in our building
by davidf18 13y ago
As a resident in Manhattan where the situation of Airbnb renting facilitating illegal use of apartments. We pay a lot of money to have security in our buildings with doormen and other secure systems. We do not want transients in our buildings.
Airbnb is intentionally setting up a situation where people are breaking the law and this should not be tolerated. They could easily have a questionnaire that vets facilities for legal Airbnb use as part of the signup process for cities such as NYC and SF. Moreover, they should have Airbnb employees verify that the apartments listed on the Airbnb site are following laws.
The real issue is that a number of reputable firms are funding Airbnb and it is these firms people should pressure. They are in fact, funding a firm which knowingly facilitates illegal activities in NYC and SF.
According to Crunchbase these firms include:
Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners, SV Angel, Andreessen Horowitz, Jeff Bezos, Ashton Kushner, and others. Some of these firms such as Sequoia, Greylock, and Andreessen Horowitz get funds from other organizations or individuals and these funders of Sequoia, Greylock, and Andreessen Horowitz should withdraw their funds if their funds are knowingly used to finance illegal activities or a site that facilitates illegal activities.
These firms are knowing funding a firm which they know is helping people to break the law and should be held accountable for funding firms which break the law.
These firms should hire as managers of Airbnb and other firms which they fund who have zero tolerance for breaking the law or trying to violate the spirit of the law.
I do applaud Airbnb's attempts to lower the cost of transient stays in NYC and SF. But this should be done through a legal mechanism such as building low-cost hotels in NYC and SF (with partners perhaps) and then listing these low-cost hotels on their site.