In San Diego it's the wild west. Short term vacation company Sonder is bulk leasing as many entire apartment buildings as they can for conversion to Airbnb's . Some before construction is even finished. Rents are now the second highest in the state and San Diego, with it's 37 million annual visitors, has become Airbnb's 5th hottest market in the nation and number 2 in California.
5
There is a loss of a feeling of safety, security and community when transients come and go daily, some with unhealthy habits like groups of youth with underage substance use. Renting out a room in one's home to a stable tenant is one thing, watching outsiders come and go in residential areas where owners have carefully chosen and invested in a neighborhood is quite another. Neighborhoods should not become for-profit, commercial ventures. Unlike hotels, they were not designed for such use.
14
"Murat Ozsu started assembling a real-estate portfolio — from luxury high-rises to brownstone walk-ups — to use as short-term rentals after noticing the growing popularity in Jersey City. Soon, he had 30 units that rented for between $160 and $350 a night." Entrepreneurial, for sure, but this isn't "home sharing." Mr. Ozsu doesn't live in any of these 30 units so none are his homes. He purchased them to use as rentals, depleting the housing stock for prospective homeowners who actually want to purchase a home to live in, and skirting laws that apply to hotels, motels and BnBs.
20
I'm sorry that people like the Sextons can't see any difference between renting out part of the house you're living in and someone gaining control of apartments in order to use them as what in all but name are hotel rooms.
I know that when AirBnB was running its ads opposing controls in NYC it only portrayed people in the outer boroughs renting rooms in their houses completely ignoring that most of its rentals were in Manhattan and in apartment buildings. I wonder if the Sextons would be so willing to rent out part of their home if they had no say in who was going to do so.
10
Hotels are the prime drivers against AirBnB. The fact is people prefer self-catering accommodation over overpriced hotels and their equally overpriced restaurants.
Just like Uber, AirBnB is one of those "tech" companies that started out pretend-innovative ("share your ride" or "rent your place out while you're on vacation"), but really make most of their money exploiting loopholes in rules and regulations that exist for very good reasons. Try to close one of those loopholes, and those "disruptors" will do anything to keep these loopholes open, this astroturfing (pretend-grassroot) being one of those. If someone buys several apartments or entire buildings to rent them out through AirBnB, they are operating a hotel, regardless of what they call it, and thus should be subject to whatever rules and regulations apply to commercial short-term lodging operations. In many of the cases described here, AirBnB is behaving just like a fence - it knowingly enables people to make money off illegal activities, and makes a fat bundle for itself in the process. Jersey, watch out! Those "tech" firms are no friends of yours!
20
There is a reason AirBnB is banned in NYC and cities across the world now: it devastates communities, cities, and elevates rents across the board.
Don't believe me?
Ask every native San Franciscan. May hometown has been the canary in the coal mine, and AirBnB is a ruthless company that puts money into local politics to make money.
Instead of greed, just rent your apartments and rooms to RESIDENTS.
Be a part of the community, not a parasite.
23
You know what's depressing? In the old days, before Airbnb, but when there were some apartments for short-term rentals on other platforms, one could choose an apartment with the idea that it would be enjoyable to mingle with local people and really get the flavor of a place. Back then, I imagine, locals might have enjoyed meeting visitors genuinely interested in their town and its people. A win-win.
Now, because big money has apparently corrupted the short term rental market, reduced the availability of long-term rentals for actual residents, and at least sometimes attracted some undesirable short-term renters, people like me and my husband - in our 70s, retired, quiet, and still eager to explore new places and met the local people--can't figure out whether it's even ok to rent an apartment without antagonizing the local neighbors (whom we would have preferred to meet). Hotels are fine and we often stay in them. BUT.. hotels rarely give one the opportunity to meet local folks. Often when I've asked for local information at a front desk I've been told the desk clerk doesn't live in town.
We have been lucky in places like Salem, OR, Northfield MN, to rent small units attached to the owners' homes. Neighbors didn't seem to mind a bit. Of course those towns were not overrun with tourists.
3
@Marina
doyou want to know why the desk clerk doesn't live in town?
airbnb has taken rentals off the market and caused rents to rise.
go figure.
you don't meet locals in a hotel or an airbnb, btw. you meet locals just walking the street.
7
@Marina Don't fool yourself-locals don't enjoy meeting tourists/strangers in their neighborhoods, especially when they have to get up early for work or their driveway is blocked and it will make them late for their dental appt. ,etc Trust me.
8
Ms. Sexton has a whole spare apartment that could be home to another human being instead, she "rents" it out through Airbnb.
The law that JC should pass is that you can only rent out a spare bedroom or two.
16
Yet again ANOTHER (i.e. Uber & Lyft) nasty by-product of the digital internet and social media.
Little to no regulation = a huge put-upon neighborhood communities.
12
I live in an urban-ish neighborhood of single family homes on small lots. Right now, on two contiguous blocks, there are two recently sold homes that are being used as full-time airbnbs and another that is rented out for the summer while the home owners travel. While I've been a huge fan of airbnb as a renter, now I can totally appreciate the flip-side first hand. There is a never ending stream of rental cards and strangers on our block. They might all be excellent, law-abiding people, but it's no replacement for an actual, tight knit community of friends and neighbors. My kids used to get so excited at the prospect of new neighbors and now we just wait for any sold home to become another short-term hotel.
19
I used to Airbnb but the last two stays were not good: bad mattress (altho the host was lovely). Dirty sock under the bed (host was lovely). Unreliable heat.
Happy with my hotel where I am right now. Swimming pool open until 10. Fitness room open all night. Hearty breakfast. Coffee anytime. Those little bottles of shampoo. Hair dryer. Clean towels and bed made daily.
And I can cancel. You can’t cancel Airbnb. And it’s not cheaper when cleaning service is added on.
22
I regularly stay at an AirBnb in Montclair NJ when I'm working nearby. It's a single family home, owned by a couple who are empty nesters. They rent out the bedrooms their kids once occupied. They share their kitchen, living room, driveway. It's been pleasant getting to know these good people. They make some dough and I save some, plus I like it more than a hotel. More recently, I've noticed that AirBnb is charging occupancy taxes and fees there, (which I am hoping go to the municipality).
On the other hand, in Madrid, where my wife and I own an apartment in a 'communidad', which is a building with many apartments and one common front door and patio, the upstairs unit from ours was formerly an AirBnb rental. The constant stream of people dragging their suitcases around, looking lost, standing out in front waiting for their host to show, punctuated by occasional all-night party-hearty events hosted by kids from hither and yon, was definitely tiresome, and we were glad they decided to revert to long-term leasing.
In Madrid, although it has not been made law, the proposal has been floated that AirBnb's not be allowed in buildings with a common entrance for multiple units. That would eliminate many.
AirBnb, as with many of the connections and transactions made possible by the internet, can be a plus or a real detriment. How to regulate this thing that can be so many things is not an easy task.
6
"Mr. Murat Ozsu bought 30 units in JC for rentals between $160 and up per night" as an investment. Then his Airbnb should be called a hotel and he should pay the corporate taxes accordingly. I hope the voters reject this "gaming of the system" at the polls. Enough!
31
@SGC If he set up his rental properties as a corporation he likely already pays corporate taxes. If he did not, he would have to pay personal income taxes at a higher rate than corporate taxes. I hope voters vote no. This is an infringement on personal property rights.
What about the property rights of the people around his rentals? He’s depressing their property values.
If Airbnb manages to pull this off I suggest the city council levy a 1000% tax on short term rentals.
14
@Paulie The cost to enforce a 1000% tax on short-term rentals would be onerous to Jersey City. Please be reasonable.
This article gets to the heart of the Airbnb issue. Following explosive (and often unconstrained) growth the corporation has warped from its original mission of true "home-sharing" to whatever we can get away with. While there is a case for light touch regulation in areas of low-density where costs/harms are more evenly spread and economic benefits relatively welcomed this is not the case in major cities. Property management companies swooped on Jersey City in droves (often encouraged by airbnb investor meetings). What is really concerning is that a major tech company hides its data from the public and uses PR campaigns and crafted messages or huge advertising sums to mislead. We would largely be in the dark were it not for the work of tech activist Murray Cox and Insideairbnb. The bigger issue is that we cannot rely on a tech corporation to do the right thing: we NEED A DATA REGULATOR NOW.
8
My building doesn't allow short term rentals. I really would hate it if we had people coming in and out. It doesn't foster community.
18
@Anne how does "people coming in and out" not foster community. Community IS people! I wish everyone who keeps wailing about the "loss of community" would stop and take a look at the way they define community. If community means "only people who I'm familiar with, only people who I share the same socio economic profile with, only people who have signed a long term lease" well than you've got a very limited POV on what community can be. I don't think anyone wants to have their building or neighborhood over run with misfits or hooligans, I agree with that 100%, but I think the answer to that is perhaps for Airbnb to create better rental guidelines that hold their hosts a bit more accountable of who they rent to. Those things can be done. But when you can't "be bothered" with new faces in your environment, please stop crying about your "loss of community". I'm not buying it. Perhaps if you open your heart a little more and stop prejudging these visitors as if they carry the deadly Airbnb virus, you may learn a thing or two about community.
1
“New faces” generally refers to new neighbors. When the faces change every few days, what you’re describing is “strangers”.
30 units? That's not a B&B, that's a hotel. And how do you know it's safe if it's an unregulated hotel?
24
Just give me a chance to vote that down. Please.
Ask anyone who has to live next to a property that has instantly become a hotel - with residents who have only an interest in having a good time
21
It seems to me that Europe managed to do this, pre-Airbnb without too much trouble. We would get off the bus/train, go to the local tourist information office and be able to find a room nearly everywhere we traveled in the 90s. Depending on where, the room would be in a house, a B and B, a hostel or hotel. Being Europe, I'm sure there were regulations and the internet just seemed to make it easier to book.
4
@Ek. The European bnb's of the past were spare bedrooms in a home (often with shred baths). The "landlord" lived there and had to deal with the renters face to face.
As with to many things American greed has taken this concept and by promoting absentee landlords off loaded the problems onto the community at large.
2
mr. Ozsu's business plan is exactly what's wrong with the situation
for someone to buy 30 units and rent them all out short term is NOT what airbnb was originally designed as
this an abuse of an unregulated situation
40
The more control over short term rentals the better. We have had two very bad rentals through the company and they have don't nothing to reimburse us. The owner we had in Peru lied to us and lied to the company. There was noise 9 hours a day for almost a month. The company did not offer to help us in relocation and the owner led us on. In Barcelona they wanted to put us in what we thought was a nice apartment, it was a damp mess in a basement with almost no light. We ended up in a filthy apartment in an entirely different area than we had chosen. AirBnB does not screen their apartment or home rentals the way they should, leaving renters at risk. They are not trustworthy to the renters, only the owners. All they want is the money.
13
@Ann I'm not a shill for Airbnb: I am though a user of it (and on the converse side, my family owns regular long-term rental properties). Thus far, I have not had any issues with renting a place through Airbnb. Since Air doesn't actually own the property, they aren't and can't really be responsible for it. Consequently, I am careful where I rent: for example, I don't rent the cheapest spot and I never rent from places with less than 50+ reviews.
I also think sometimes that people hold different expectations than what Airbnb can meet. I've stayed in hostels (which I enjoy) and I've stayed in 5-star boutique hotels (paid for by someone else). If you want the verification and security, choose a corporate hotel that maintains more or less the same standard internationally but also expect to pay more. There are also services that have verified apartments and rooms but then again, the price goes up.
4
Airbnb, like HomeAway and VRBO, does have a way to protect renters, but they actively work to do the opposite. They allow owners to delete listings with bad reviews and relist the same properties so renters have no idea the rentals are bad. They do nothing to shut down bad locations. HomeAway (which owns VRBO) goes a step further by not even allowing negative reviews of bad behavior of the landlord. You can report an uncomfortable bed, but if the landlord steals your deposit, you can’t put that in your review.
These companies deceive renters and all of the protections are for the property owners.
Short term rentals are a huge problem in Hawaii where they have caused a severe shortage of affordable housing for local residents. AirBnB is a necessary service but it needs to be restricted and regulated so that it doesn't impact neighborhoods and communities. One problem here in Hawaii is that a lot of short-term rentals are illegal. AirBnB is complicit in that because they refuse to help local authorities in rooting out the illegal rentals.
14
@Scott Werden If rentals have to be licensed, then AirBnB will require the license no.
Ever hear of zoning laws? If people in a community decide that they want to lead a quiet existence without people constantly moving in and moving out what's wrong with that?
17
@MIKEinNYC
In my 15 years of living in Manhattan, I would never describe it as "quiet". You go to the burbs for quiet.
1
In my first 15 years of being born and living in Brooklyn, it was quiet. In the early morning the vegetable man came by, and I could hear his horse's hooves from a block away. Every once in a while the guy who sharpened knives and scissors came by, also in horse and wagon. The last of their kind, c. 1962.
Birds. Breezes. No loud car sound systems, no obscene shouting. No police sirens.
Cities do not have to be noisy. Oh, there are garbage trucks and Con Edison workers digging up the streets, but those are productive sounds. This business of noisy cities -- that came along with garbage and crime in the early 1970s.
Now, Airbnb -- what you get from that are residential neighborhoods turned into commercial strips.
And men urinating into backyard shrubbery because they've stuffed three vacationing families into one rented house that doesn't have enough bathrooms. As a neighbor, do I want to see that? And yet I saw it.
6
I saw the canvassers this past weekend.
They came up to me in a park and said they were passing a petition around to boost "affordable housing" - their exact words. No mention of Airbnb. There was no heading on the petition and it looked dubious. I asked the person where she was from and she said Brooklyn. I became even more suspicous. After a long conversation, a friend of mine came over and he knew something about the petition drive. He asked if this had anything to do with Airbnb and they finally admitted it.
They are devious.
30
@Sirlar: Yup and their "poll" in local media, purportedly showing support for Airbnb, was created by a PR company that primarily runs political campaigns and was highly misleading in its questioning. They also signed up an NAACP rep to gain support for the company arguing that airbnb is helping people of color despite academic studies (see McGill / EPI) indicating the exact opposite: i.e. that it is people of color who suffer disproportionately from the cost increases and/or displacement when properties are taken away from housing supply in favor of tourists.
16
@Sirlar
If you had watched the Airbnb ads run in NYC you would have thought all its rentals were in private homes in the outer boroughs rather than mostly in apartment buildings south of 96th st. in Manhattan.
3
I've used Airbnb successfully in cities all over the world, and always had good experiences. But in my most recent trips, I've noticed increased hostility to Airbnb, ranging from hostile looks from neighbors to anti-Airbnb graffiti. Many of the cities I've visited are grappling with regulatory issues and angry residents, just like Jersey City.
So I've decided to stop using the service, and go back to hotels. As much as I'll miss the experience of apartment living during travel, I no longer want to contribute to this global problem.
38
Bravo and thanks!
Among other things, AirBnB contributes to local, regional, and our national housing affordability crisis. I've seen it happen nearby.
20
@Anonymous If there's a national affordability crisis, it's not AirBnB's fault.
1
Airbnb is a part of the problem and pretending it isn’t is ridiculous.
Remember how shocking that sentence "Greed is good." sounded in the movie Wall Street?
Now it is the heartbeat of America.
There's nothing wrong with renting a room out. But we to be legislation to assure that these are longer term rentals only. For students, interns, etc. 3-6 months. And there needs to be a system whereby a landlord or tenant board approves that contract.
15
Classic example of a seemingly good idea (making some extra cash by renting out a room in your home) to removing available housing from the market. Greed trumps altruism.
I suspect a large portion of the money made by the hosts does not get reported on Income Tax.
19
Exactly! The whole "sharing economy" thing is and always was a sham. Charging someone for the use of something you own or do is called, simply, "selling" -- not "sharing"
18
I recently spent 10 days/nights in Seattle, Portland and Vancouver BC on vacation with my son. I always chose to stay in hotels that averaged, on check out, between $175.00-$200.00 USD per night. I have the Air-B-N-B app on my phone but have never used it. My biggest problem with their service is my belief that people have a fundamental RIGHT to know, within reason, who their neighbors are. The home sharing service destroys that principle, all in the name of profit. The home sharing biz is, to my mind, just one more insidious way that our quality of life is being eroded. The basic safety of residents in their homes is being undermined...all in the interest of someone's profit.
29
This weary Vancouverite thanks you for your thoughtfulness and accommodation decisions. The past two apartment buildings I’ve lived in, and let’s face it, my entire city—ruined by AirBnB. The housing shortage for actual residents here is nothing short of punishing, and the net effect destroys communities.
I will probably have phantom auditory hallucinations of rolling suitcase sounds for the rest of my life.
4
Living in a beach community that is in danger of being wrecked by Airbnb, I say “ fight back, Jersey City”!
Here, the problem is two- fold - taking long term rental opportunities off the market, and wrecking neighborhoods. Who wants strangers arriving with their wheelies to party with their friends next door?
39
Try that, small apartment building edition: an ever-changing array of minimally-vetted strangers and the totally not vetted people they invite over walking around with (and possibly making and giving out numerous copies of) keys to your once-secure building and all of its common areas, including storage and laundry and gym locker rooms...
18
And keys to and from the common garage and children's play area.
11
who can i contact to sign a petition, or to start my own?
4
I feel guilty when I use Airbnb, but I have to admit that I do it. I would happily stay in hotels more often if I weren't kept up --sometimes all night long -- by doors slamming and voices coming from the hallways (and through the walls). In other words, find me a hotel that has sound proof rooms, and I will gladly stay there every time. Hotels need to step up their game.
11
I live in The Heights and the number of people staying in Airbnb has gotten out of control. Monday morning four people with rolling suitcases squeezed onto my already crowded bus. It's just too much and I welcome the ballot initiative.
22
@Traci I don't think the ballot initiative is necessarily a good thing, as it's a paid effort by Airbnb to get it put to a vote. They have been spreading a lot of disinformation about the new ordinance in order to collect signatures and get it on the ballot. I suspect that if they are successful in their petition, they will spend a whole lot more money to misinform voters leading up to the vote.
7
There is a difference between renting out a room in your home on airbnb and purchasing housing units to rent on airbnb. It is a question of scale and safety. Airbnb began as a sharing concept and has become a market that allows hotels to operate without certification. They are not insured or inspected by fire or health departments. I have had a couple horrible experiences with airbnb and will never use them again. Ever. Oh, and they say they respond to user comments. No they don't.
The same thing happened with uber. It was supposed to be a ridesharing concept, but where I live, drivers rent cars and can make money as uber taxi drivers. Again, not insured or inspected.
It is time to recognize the "sharing economy" for what it is. Definitely not about sharing.
36
Yes. Same. Stayed in an apartment through the service. All sorts of problems there. The host said talk with the owner, the owner blamed the host and Airbnb was virtually silent. No real recourse for anyone not holding up their end of the agreement for safe, clean and a maintained environment.
13
Murat Ozsu, you represent the exact reason why Jersey City's Council passed the ordinance. You should buy a hotel if you wish to be a hotelier, but you do not because of the obvious liabilities attached. Unfortunately, it is folks like him who will be banner-wavers to have the law overturned. And I have no doubt that AirBnB is spreading misinformation about the Jersey City ordinance because they have too much money to lose. Why is it right for an entire building with no owner or manager present to operate as a hotel in a residential neighborhood?
47
@Jim Agreed and it's unfortunate. I live in Manhattan and AirBnb my apartment during my frequent work travels. I do so at rates below market especially given the quality of my home and have cleared this with my neighbors. This was the intention of AirBnb. It isn't removing housing from the available stock nor creating defacto, illegal hotels. People like Mr. Ozsu will ruin it for the rest of us who are responsible and well intentioned.
2
@Jim
Mr. Ozsu's pretty egregious, especially if he really did take 30 units off the market but Mr. and Ms. Sexton are doing is just as horrible. They brought a multifamily dwelling but only one family (theirs) gets to live there.
4
@Ariel - Do you rent out your apartment for less than one month at a time? If so, despite your neighbors' clearance, you are breaking the law. The only way to legally rent out an apartment for less than a month in New York City is for the owner to reside in the apartment during the rental period.
8
First step:
Reporters should stop participating in Airbnb's marketing deceit by using the term "home sharing" or "the home-sharing industry."
The term "home-sharing" is outrageously inaccurate when applied to the short-term rental industry. The term is falsely anodyne. (Why else would short-term rental places use it?)
Places used exclusively as short-term rentals aren't anyone's home. And that is the entire problem, as Mayor Fulop points out.
No one needs to argue about genuine home-sharing. That's a good way for residents invested in the community, as well as their homes, to make extra money. From their actual homes.
33
@stephen: THANK YOU STEPHEN. What is happening to our media when even the venerable NYT becomes complicit in marketing disinformation? Sharing is contemporaneous - e.g "we shared a ride home" -- sharing is not vacating your home and converting it into a 24/7 business.
16
When you purchase a home or an apartment in a residential neighborhood the last thing you want is a hotel next door to you. If you purchase a two-family home you have a right to rent it out to a person on a yearly basis, not hotel guests for a nightly rate. Have some consideration for your neighbors please.
38
Airbnb has become a global behemoth, as well as an increasingly decried blight on residential affordability and long-term rental availability. Just look at neighborhoods all across NYC. Jersey City's City Council took the right steps, so voters, please ratify their efforts, and tell Mr. Oszu and Airbnb NO THANKS!
23
I would outlaw the entire operation (AirBnb). These jokers have caused numerous problems in my building, including - but not limited to - prostitution, drug trafficking, child abuse, etc. I moved into a residential building, not a hotel. And if you can't afford your mortgage/rent, then don't get into debt in the first place. And why on earth would anyone want to stay in some stranger's home?? Ick!
27
Mr. Ozsu is the exact problem of Airbnb. He's not renting out his home while he's away, or a spare room for some extra income. He's amassed 30 properties with no concern for the full time residents that live in the area. While he cashes in, his neighbor's will bear the brunt of loud vacationers, coming and going at all hours, who have no respect, because Jersey City is just a doormat to them. Something to wipe their feet on as they pass through.
98
@Jerry Exactly, he wants all the perks and none of the responsibility of being a real landlord. And I pity the regular tenants in those buildings that have to put up with his "guests." I had a neighbor who was clearly airbnbing a rent stabilized apartment, and one his "guests" would not stop knocking on my door because they could not get into whichever unit it was. I told them if they knocked on my door or bothered me again, I would be sure to call the management company at once and have them removed for trespassing. That got them to finally leave me alone! They were European tourists who clearly could have afforded a hotel. In my current building, an airbnb tourist was trying to pry open a long sealed trash chute and then tried to leave a bag of garbage outside my apartment; apparently the "host" hadn't left them a trash gate key or instructions. I think all the neighbors in Mr. Ozsu's buildings should get a cut of the proceeds for their troubles.
16
@Jerry True. I'm the opposite of Mr. Ozsu in that I rent out my primary residence in Manhattan while traveling for business, with strict requirements for those who use it. It's unfortunate that people like him will ruin this for the rest of us.
2
@Ariel
So you live in NM and rent out your place when you are not here? You are already in violation of NYS state law which does not allow this unless you are actually in your dwelling. Mr.Ozsu "ruined" nothing, he was just the logical extension of airbnb's platform and they have fought NYC tooth and nail re data before basically admitting most of their "hosts" were doing it commercialy and most were NOT present. I hope I am not your neighbor.
9
The corporations that run these short term rental platforms have absolutely no regard for quality of life issues in the communities that they operate in.
They need to be regulated and taxed to the degree that these rentals are not sucking the lifeblood out of other businesses in the neighborhood.
24
As a Jersey City homeowner, I see the financial benefits of using AirBnB to rent out available rooms and apartments to sun burned, flip flop wearing, rollie bag toting tourists. I also see the upheaval it causes to neighborhood stability.
Why should residents allow people like Mr Ozsu to take 30 units of housing off the market so he can turn a profit? Jersey City was never meant to grow as big as it has and is currently planned for. Affordable housing is woefully lacking as it is. What benefit to the neighborhood does this offer?
We enjoy knowing our neighbors. Who else can you ask to move your car or keep an eye on your house while you're away, and gladly return the favor?
Should Ms. Sexton successfully get the short-term rental law on the ballot, I look forward to voting against it and perhaps finally putting this issue to bed.
58
@Cuban Pete: Murat is a resident of Sag Harbor in The Hamptons. He took close to 30 properties away from Jersey City residents who were contributing to their community more than any tourist ever could. Using our town as a hotel base/commuter venture to enrich yourself while dumping externalities on everyone else is just selfish and greedy. Give those properties back to residents.
28
These rental units should be taxed like hotels and their non resident landlords should pay higher property taxes to make up for the loss of resident income taxes.
Mr Oszu dips twice into Jersey City's pocket.- once because he doesn't have to pay the hotel taxes and fees that hotels do and twice because the 30 units he rents goes to transitory people who spend their money in NYC and pay zero income taxes to NJ.
Florida taxes non resident home owners at higher rates - NY and NJ should do the same.
34
I doubt Mr Oszu owns all 30 units
I doubt he pays for liability insurance on all 30 units
I doubt he pays sales taxes on all 30 units
I doubt he declares income on all 30 units
This may be a very profitable business for Mr Oszu but the residents of Jersey City are displaced and see little benefit from his thriving business.
50
I live in a building in NY where my neighbor uses Airbnb exclusively. It is totally scary the people who come in. They give you attitude and liter and treat the place like people treat hotels; badly.
It has been a difficult and long fight. Airbnb is valued in the billions and they use lots of money to beat small local governments.
Vote No to Airbnb. Save our communities.
67
Operating short term rentals is a business. They are in effect motels lacking a front desk and security. They proliferate in residential zoned communities and upend the lifestyle of those residents. In fact those "businesses" are no different than operating a blacksmith shop out of one's home garage - although the blacksmith shop is often quieter than the midnight parties occurring at VRBOs in our neighborhood. Residents shoulder the cost of municipal policing of these modern "frat" houses as well. Ban them in residential neighborhoods and permit them only in "commercial" zones.
37
I am an AirABnB host, but live in the home where the guests use the downstairs private basement apartment. I agree that those buying rental units or entire homes for profit from AirBnB is wrong. Since hosts are reviewed by the guests, I assume safety issues would be reported as well as any violation of housing standards. I also now pay a county tax, so I am not just profiting from my business in which there is a substantial investment.
AirBnB should pay attention to the complaints, but my guess is this will take a lot of pushing.
22
Airbnb makes it easy for owners to avoid negative reviews in several ways. The easiest is that they allow them to delete listing with bad reviews and then relist them as new properties.
All of the protections on the platform are for the owners.
Whenever something new comes along, the vested interests in the status quo wrap their financial issues in moral ones.
8
@Travelers And the vested interest in this case is AirBnB.
9
@Travelers The "vested interests in the status quo" are neighborhood residents. If they wanted to live next to a hotel or motel, or in a commercial zone, that's where they would have moved.
16
@Travelers Do you mean something new like Murat Ozsu, founder and CEO of innRoad, which recently received $5 million VC funding to expand his hotel booking/management software company? Is that what you mean by "new"? Where's the morality in hiding that fact?
13
Mr. Oszu built a "portfolio' of 30 properties and planned to make it a "full time business" ( how the income on 30 rental properties is not already enough to be full time busisness is odd) Mr. Miller wants to do short term rentals of his current house to cover the mortgage of new bigger house..Gee I remember when people SOLD their houses to cover the mortgage but at least both expose the lie that airbnb is to help some struggling home owner afford to stay in their house or cover medical expenses that airbnb usually foists on us . Both also expose the lie that airbnb is for "hosts" to show tourists their cool underserved area. I suggest Mr. Oszu and Mr. Miller buy hotels or bed & breakfast establishments if they want to profit on renting to tourists and leave residential buildings to residents.
83
You can't argue with Democracy - if this is what the people vote for it's what they should have. They shouldn't complain when lots of units go into short term rental and the prices go up and houses become unavailable. It is well know this is exactly what will happen. And most of these rental units will be corporate owned and operated, usually by non-residents.
19
As a home owner and a veteran, Airbnb is bad news. VA loans require you stay in the home and use it as your residence. Seems it isn't a fair practice to not allow your veteran neighbor to do the same as you are doing, renting out your home.
The fact is overall this isn't a bad policy, it's good policy to place restrictions on turning your neighborhood into a hotel strip. Not only is it hurting marginalized people and minorities Airbnb is ripping the heart out of local communities. It's allowing a bunch of strangers in the home next door. Some of those strangers could rape and murder your kids. This is nuts people, stop thinking with your freaking wallet all day, your greed stinks.
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@Jane
Well put, homeowner and veteran Jane!
The goal is to find the right balance between allowing homeowners some flexibility in renting their homes out while they are traveling, and keeping their neighborhoods truly residential/safe for kids/neighborly.
We live in a fabulous city, San Francisco, in a charming neighborhood, in single family homes worth millions - just lucky. If I wanted to, I could make enough money in one week-end to pay the mortgage, if I had't already paid off my mortgage!
The population of the world is increasing. Really gorgeous, human scaled residential environments like mine, will become increasingly precious and valuable. I am often confronted by visitors in my paradise who have rented AifBnB's from my long time neighbors. Thus far, everyone is very respectful. I could rent out my house and live somewhere else and make a ton of money but I would lose living in paradise!
San Francisco does not allow an investment property owner to agglomerate lots of AirBnB houses to run hotels. Good for us! AirBnB's headquarters office is located here. So you can work out solutions if you have representative government, as we do to a large extent. We are a long term blue city.
Obviously, housing is not "affordable" here. But that's going to be true every beautiful place in the world as we become increasingly overcrowded due to increasing over-population. That's the core problem facing AirBnB and every other precious but ultimately limilted resource.
2
One thing I'm not seeing in these comments is a concern about building safety. In my hometown of Holladay, Utah, a young couple who bill themselves as "passionate entrepreneurs" turned one-half of their duplex into an AirBnB. At over 3,000 sq. ft. they they allowed so many guests that it was basically a hotel. Neighbors complained about noise, light spillage, parking blocking the street, and guests ringing their doorbells after 10 p.m. The city required them to obtain a permit, limited the number of guests and required off-street parking.
A few months ago the rental caught on fire. The interior was completely destroyed. No one was hurt and yes, I know that fires happen in many homes. But the risk seems bigger when a home is rented out to a much larger number of people than would usually live in a unit. I never hear how AirBnB requires its purveyors to conform to health and safety regulations whereas hotels need to meet commercial building codes. But hey, requiring such regulations would cut into the spirit of the so-called entrepreneurs, in whom greed has overcome any sense of considering the public good.
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This has become a huge problem all over the country. Here in New Orleans the city is talking about similar regulations and already revoked permits for whole house rentals.
The issues are the same. It's in reponse to entire blocks being rented out to short term guests, and not regular tenants. It's out of control here. This problem is not going away, and AirBNB can't act like it doesn't have an effect on local property markets.
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@Mike Friedman
Barcelona is no longer a city of Catalan-speaking residents. It's a large hotel of AirBnB units and endless tourists.
Ditto Paris?
Rome?
Pretty soon, one of the great benefits of foreign travel - experiencing a foreign culture, cuisine, and lifestyle - will be lost because everywhere we go we will still be in AirBnB....
9
Airbnb needs to be regulated in Jersey City. Parking in downtown is already a nightmare. The city is giving out visitor parking permits to Airbnb guests, which is unfair for long-term residents.
If property owners needs Airbnb income to pay for mortgages instead of renting out to long-term tenants, they should not qualify for the mortgages.
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@X, Even worse, people are making a business of buying many, many units and using the rentals to pay off the mortgages. that is an illegitimate business in my view because it skirts the system.
48
my wife and i live in a condo in Jersey City. (Not a high rise)
We don't want transient people who have no interest in the building just using a unit as their hotel room. I also suspect that this will not help our property value
84
@mm Read you condominium CCandR's (in California, Covenents, Conditions, and Restrictions." These usually limit rentals of condominiums, at least in California.. Your neighbors renting units all the time may be violating your CCandR's. If so, ask the Condominium Association to enforce. If they fail to do so, seek damages in court. Attorneys will often take eggregious condo violations on a pay later bases, depending upon how much they collect.
If you bought a condo with weak CCandR's you may just need to move to a better one.
1
Can't wait to vote against this referendum.
47
Fully agree with and support the restriction.
8
The notion that AIRBNB should escape regulation is ridiculous on its face. Think of just the public health factors alone that lodging entails. Sanitation and safety alone demand oversight. The issues beyond those—disruption of neighbors’ quiet enjoyment of their homes and neighborhoods, reduction in available primary housing, etc. —are so obvious that only people blinded by greed refuse to acknowledge them. The arrogance of the digital overlords who think they have a license to “disrupt” is disgusting.
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Not in my backyard. Do you want an airbnb unit in your apartment building? Increase risk of bed bugs, crime, and noise at all hours of the night?
56
airbnb is a scam, just like uber and lyft, undermining long-standing regulations to get around oversight and dodge taxes.
With the taxi scamming uber and lyft, it was the medallion system, but airbnb scams the motel and hotel industry regulations that protect consumers, and they dodge the taxation they should be liable for, not to mention local zoning ordinances.
Like living next to a hotel? Like boisterous, drunken partiers staying outside yelling at all hours of the night? Like having a new crew of suspicious people moving in next door, EVERY DAY?!? That's what happens when home owners move out and turn their once private homes into airbnb motels. There is no "front desk", there is NO SECURITY, there is NO ONE overseeing anything. Your ONLY recourse is calling the police.
airbnb is a scam. It's not "sharing" anymore than uber is not a taxi service. WAKE UP!
80
I had to report the house next door (an illegal short term rental) when the “tenants” had a party and threw beer bottles over the fence onto my patio where the bottles smashed on the concrete. I guess they were unhappy that my dog was bothering them at 2 am on a Sunday night.
15
“They’re making big money off turning my neighborhood into a giant hotel."
Yet, I'm sure this mayor would have no problem bulldozing any number of these homes to make way for a ugly, high-rise hotel, if that's what the hotel industry wants. I have stayed in over 30 Airbnb's which enabled me to get to know new neighborhoods, meet new people, patronize their businesses, and put my money into the hands of a grateful, industrious property owner instead of Paris Hilton.
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@BambooBlue
AirBnB is not the only alternative to fancy hotels. Countless charming inexpensive family-run inns, hotels, and B&Bs are available all over the world. Rick Steves has made a career out of describing them.
Opposition is not about denying travel or income to others, but preserving one's neighborhood, property value, and peace of mind as well as many other considerations.
The practice should be banned by federal law.
13
I live in Jersey City, and this year, a single-family rowhouse was rented by an out-of-town host who promptly threw up a few extra walls to create illegal bedrooms, then placed it on Airbnb and numerous other sites, advertised for groups of 17 (but “no parties,” wink wink).
What followed were large groups of friends, bachelorettes, wedding parties, etc., all without oversight from the absentee hosts. This broke numerous Municipal Codes, but the neighbors were entirely at the mercy of the corporate homeowner and their host/tenant, neither of whom wanted to give up their sweet $650/night hotel deal, as they were not personally affected. This is NOT OK. And if short term rentals are allowed to proliferate with impunity, Jersey City and places like it will have sold out their own constituents.
In this situation, Airbnb IS the “hotel lobby”.
119
Laws and ordinances limiting Airbnb are much more about protecting hotel industry rather than people and communities. If you want to slow the rise in rent and housing prices, build more homes!
2
Hotels have to adhere to a whole set of regulations that Airbnb rentals avoid. Make the playing field equal, I say. Being a neighbor of an Airbnb can be no fun.
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@Joshua would we need to build more homes if "hosts" weren't buying empty, low-cost ones and turning them into full-time AirBnbs? A man interviewed in this article claims to operate 30 properties on AirBnb that he bought on the cheap and now rents for at least $350 a night...you don't think there are 30 homeless families in the area who are looking for affordable housing?
54
If AirBnB truly imposes costs on a community, put a tax on it. Certainly tax it equal to the hotel industry. But if people want to rent properties through AirBnB they should be free to do so. If that leads to more building and more development, allow it and enjoy the benefits. Other owners do not have the right to dictate how somebody uses their own property.
AirBnB is a much better way to travel than using hotels. I highly recommend it. If limiting AirBnB is politicians helping their friends in the hotel industry (certainly what it appears to be), AirBnB has my full support. I plan to vote for this AirBnB initiative in the fall.
5
@ Tom Meadowcroft, If I owned and lived in a condo and there was an absentee owner who used his or her unit or units as Airbnbs and it was obvious, I would be pretty irritated.
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@Tom Meadowcroft
Owners may not have the right "to dictate how somebody uses their own property," but local governments have the right to restrict uses for the benefit, health and welfare of citizens. Many AirBnB operators have far exceeded the original idea of renting out your spare bedroom at the loss of long-term residents losing a sense of stability and comfort of their homes.
If AirBnB resists local regulations pertaining to disclosing the owners and operators of short-term rentals imagine how they'll respond to the imposition of local taxes.
25
@Tom Meadowcroft "AirBnB is a much better way to travel than using hotels" that's just your opinion, and it does nothing to counter the documented ill-effects of neighborhoods (and in some places, almost entire towns) being turned into short-term rental zones.
The fact is that AirBnB, coupled with the mass tourism it enables, kills communities. Have you read about the tent cities in Tasmania? There are so many high-rent units on AirBnB catering to international tourists that the residents are living on the streets.
17
I've been an Airbnb host since 2013 when the intent was to share a space in your house, not buy real estate, spiff it up with subway tiles and pendant lights and install a push code lockbox. But the new Airbnb, which wink wink nod nods the subway tile offering over the kid's-former-bedroom has become, like every other tech company that gushes about sharing and doing good, a super-capitalist monster. Sorry about the people who've bought 30 properties and think of themselves as mini Hyatts (as encouraged by Airbnb...which takes its cut while opting out of the responsibility end.) Does Airbnb need to be regulated? You betcha. The mini-entrepreneur model is ruining neighborhoods by raising rents for actual neighborhood dwellers ,while those of us who buy into the share-a-bedroom idea are punished by seeing our listings lose favor to the no-host-on-premises properties.
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@Barbara indeed, in a all to common word today, greed.
2
The hotel industry is rightly and necessarily regulated and taxed. Hotel taxes are paid by hotel guests/customers who, mostly, are from out of town, which is why they are one of the least politically painful of taxes even though often opposed by the lodging industry.
Residential rentals serving the purposes of temporary lodging alike to hotels need to be equally regulated, including zones in which they are not permitted and taxed no less than are hotel accommodations.
It's fair, it's a sensible policy, it would produce public revenue. And there should be adjustable formulas established by law that balances the number of such units available at any given time against the number of affordable housing units needed and the number in supply.
There are four critical issues in municipal governance: Public safety, education, health care and - and housing.
25
@Carl Zeitz
Jersey City already levies the hotel/motel tax on Airbnb, and typically a home used for multiple units has a higher assessment for property taxes. Generally I agree that a more balanced ordinance could have helped, but the one that was passed went way, way too far.
I believe if the City is so concerned about low cost housing, it should use the property owned by the redevelopment agency and build and maintain its own, using the revenue from the hotel/motel/airbnb tax.
2
@Jack Pestaner: sorry the ordinance "went too far" - what? The Jersey City revised regs allows Airbnb IF the host is present year round! Yes -- you can do it 365 days if you are onsite, taking responsibility for your hotel guests. You can even do it if you're not around for up to 60 days per year. The ordinance considers residents primarily.
5
greedy capitalism strikes ever more! what about the workers at hotels who lose their jobs? what about workers who can find affordable rental units? the existing regulations are fair! vote no!
24
It seems fairly obvious that Airbnb has turned into something much more than a way for people to share extra space in their homes with travelers. When homes and apartments become full time hotels there is a loss of housing and a rise in the cost of housing due to scarcity. When a neighborhood is full of tourists in party mode the lives of residents are affected by noise and the behavior of an influx of visitors with no stake in every day quality of life. The types of businesses change, leaving an area with fewer basic services. I feel for residents of communities near major attractions because the benefits of Airbnb for users are not spread to all, while the negative impacts affect the entire community.
Where I live it would not be legal to run a beauty parlor, auto repair shop or restaurant in my home because of negative effects on my neighbors, including parking issues and noise. Motels and hotels are also restricted to major streets. Why should Airbnb hosts be able to ignore these regulations?
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@s Right, because god forbid we have more tourists in town spending money and supporting local businesses!
2
@Marc Cusumano
But they don't. They largely crowd our already crowded public transportation to eat, party and sightsee in NYC and come back to their AirBnB in JC to crash.
Well, you're right about one type of local business. If one more German tourist asks me where they can buy beer in my quiet neighborhood, I think I'll scream.
Hotels are built in areas zoned for their business and employ locals for staff, security and restaurant workers. I'd be happy if more hotels were built in Jersey City.
Neighborhoods are for neighbors. The more Jersey City allows itself to be NYC's giant crash pad, the less we are able to sustain decent living conditions for people who actually want to call it our home.
As for those local businesses mentioned, I'm surprised they don't credit the substantial support they have received from their local following. If they're not working hard to maintain those relationships, and are instead trying to appeal to tourists, they don't deserve to be around much longer.
I'm tired of the endless transients with their suitcases and backpacks packing the already packed PATH trains at rush hours. I don't even say hi to the new faces I see on my street anymore. I know I won't see them next week.
I'm grateful to our council for fighting for us. The regulations are reasonable and should remain in place.
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@Marc Cusumano The tourists are heading into NY and spent little if any time, let alone money, in JC. Just look at rush hour on the PATH.
I imagine few tourists are booking flights to EWR to hangout in Jersey City.
14
Jersey City is going the way of gentrification-style San Francisco and NY. Families who've been here for decades are being forced out due to escalating rents and housing development that only caters to the wealthy and affluent, particularly downtown. This is nothing more than modern day segregation to the 100th degree. Outer neighborhoods in Jersey City like Greenville benefit from NONE of this. In fact, until very recently, Greenville subsidized Jersey City's downtown growth by paying higher taxes. Airbnb will benefit and cater to only the wealthy and affluent, and hurt lower income working families.
29
@D Don't assume that people who live downtown are benefiting either. Many, like us, bought places years ago. We are older and many of us are retired, and our property taxes have skyrocketed. Many of the high-rises have tax abatements. We could just leave, I guess, but our families and friends are here and we don't want to be forced out. I see people rolling their suitcases up and down the streets, going to their AirBnbs, but we get no benefit from it.
21
@D Modern-day segregation? Get real. The real estate market is a free market; prices scale with whatever the market will bear.
@Marc Cusumano That is a ridiculous over-simplification that highlights the problem. The whole reason for zoning laws is to define commercial and non-commercial real estate markets. By using the loophole that it does, AirBnB inflates the costs in residential markets beyond what the residential market can bear by using residential inventory for commercial purposes.
All the JC ordinance does is put in reasonable limitations designed to keep the residential market just that. It is called a fair playing ground, without which the “free market” is not truly free at all.
11
Jersey City provides another example of municipal government officials serving the interests of the hotel industry instead of the interests of the city residents who elected them. After they succeed in getting their home-sharing petition on the ballot, the activists should consider starting a petition to recall Mayor Fullop. Maybe he can go fight for the interests of the hotel industry somewhere else.
9
@Admir It's not just the hotel industry it's the people that live in these neighborhoods and don't want a steady stream of strangers/tourists creating a motel parking lot atmosphere.
65
@Betsy Smith That's not necessarily what happens. In many cases it's people coming in for work or even medical reasons. It's not Mardi Gras. Hosts want good, responsible guests in their places.
@Admiral: No we love our Mayor in Jersey City and he showed guts to stand up to a corporation that had flooded local government with misinformation to write their own regs. They wanted access to NYC tourist revenue and to use our city as a gateway to profits (63mm NYC tourist per year? Yes please!) Other local cities (e.g. Seacaucus) banned them entirely. If you are really concerned about lobbying and corporate power have a look at Opensecrets.org to see just how much lobbying Airbnb does. It's not far off corporate behemoth Walmart in lobbying spend and many of its top brass are ex-lobbyists... At least the hotel industry supports unions, workers rights and stays in commercial zones. Airbnb does regulatory arbitrage which generally doesn't end well.
4
It has to be regulated. It's just awful for neighborhoods and neighbors. Renting a room in your home is one thing; having a unregulated "hotel" with no staff is just not ok.
As always, greed ruins most good ideas.
83
I wholeheartedly agree. I had one of these ABNBs across the street from me for a year. It was a nightmare. New requirements that the home must be the owners primary residence helps, though the number of days allowed for short-term rental remains excessive in my area at up to 6 months per year.
42