New York City’s crackdown on Airbnb has led to a booming black market for rentals that have “gone underground” – putting both renters and apartment owners at risk of scammers, industry experts told The Post.
Listings on Airbnb have shriveled up after the city imposed tougher regulations that restrict most short-term stays and limit reservations to only two guests.
The new rules, which went into effect Sept. 5, have forced Airbnb to stop taking or cancel reservations — leaving those who had booked a visit to the city scrambling to riskier options on sites like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, or pay for soaring hotel rates.
The listings have “gone underground,” said Syed Lateef, an Airbnb super host based in Chicago who runs SyedBnB.
These non-vacation rental sites, however, are prime targets for “scammers to create fake listings and collect money without delivering a place,” Lateef warned.
“You have background checks and insurance when you have Airbnb’s backing and when something goes wrong like a bad guest” or a reservation is canceled Airbnb intervenes, he added.
One Facebook Marketplace listing boasts a two-bedroom apartment at Broadway and Chambers St. that’s available for “short and mid-term stays” and asks potential guests to “send us an inquiry for availability and pricing.”
Another on Craigslist from a purported former Airbnb host in Chinatown touts: “My huge loft is available…for $200 a night.”
“The city is shutting down Airbnb, so looking for renters this way, but have been a super host for 8 years with 5 star reviews across the board the entire time.”
The city’s Office of Special Enforcement, which regulates the home sharing sites, did not immediately respond for comment.
The new regulations require hosts to register with the city — or face stiff penalties — and to be present while their guests are in their homes.
As of the last week of September, there were only 2,300 listings left on Airbnb in New York with a minimum stay of less than 30 nights — down from the 22,000 before the stricter rules went into effect, according to AirDNA, which tracks Airbnb data.
Many of the listings are hotels or ‘serviced apartments’ that are not required to be licensed as short-term rentals.
A spot check for an October weekend stay in the Big Apple brings up just two Airbnb options, both of which are listed as ‘exempt’ from the registration rule because they are hotel rooms, The Post found.
Airbnb has said that it expects the city’s clampdown to cost it $85 million in annual revenue.
Meanwhile, hotel room rates are rising, up by 8% in October compared to a year ago, according to the Trivago Hotel Price Index.
Besides Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, former Airbnb hosts are turning to Houfy, a site that lists short-term rentals and gained a lot of new listings in September when the rule took effect, according to a Wired report.
The site, which launched in 2015, is essentially free for both hosts and guests to use, according to the company’s website. Its plan to is to make money from advertising on the site.
The company argues that because it doesn’t collect fees for the listing that the onus is on hosts to comply with the rule, according to Wired.
Houfy received a notice from the city about the new rule and is “reviewing how to comply,” chief executive Thijs Aaftink, told Wired.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
