NY Post – Majority of city’s Airbnb rentals last year were illegal: report

June 28, 2016
More than half the Airbnb rentals in New York City last year were illegal, according to a report released Monday by two housing advocacy groups. The report, commissioned by MFY Legal Service and Housing Conservation Coordinators, found that 28,765 of the short-term rental site’s 51,397 listings for 2015 — or 56 percent — illegally offered to book an entire apartment or home for fewer than 30 days. The report singled out 8,058 units as “impact listings” where homes are rented out for brief periods for more than a third of a year, making them virtual hotels. The advocates argued that if the apartments were on the market instead, the city’s vacant rental stock would increase by 10 percent. State law prohibits renting apartments for less than 30 days if the lease holder isn’t present. “Airbnb’s practices are swallowing up affordable housing units, forcing New Yorkers from their homes and precipitating a spike in homelessness, unprecedented since the Great Depression,” Public Advocate Letitia James said during a rally outside City Hall where the report was released….
Source: http://nypost.com/2016/06/28/majority-of-citys-airbnb-rentals-last-year-were-illegal-report/