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After a year-long legal battle, Airbnb has agreed to settled the lawsuit with San Francisco. The tech outfit now promises to help enforce landlords using their service register with the city.
As of November, only 15 percent of short-term San Francisco rentals were registered. But moving forward, those who have listings and do not register will be kicked off the platform.
“As part of the deal, which must be approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors before taking effect, landlords will have to register with the city in order to post a listing with Airbnb,” reports Bay Area News Group. “
This lawsuit is, in part, to help the city from turning into one giant illegal hotel. The multi-billion dollar company’s rise to prominence has also sparked an incline in evictions and reduction of housing stock.
“This is a turning point when it comes to enforcement,” City Attorney Dennis Herrera wrote. “This settlement ensures that the two largest rental platforms in San Francisco will only include legal listings. It also guarantees that enforcement with real teeth begins in short order.”
The other, lesser-known short-term business, HomeAway, was also named in the lawsuit.
According to TechCrunch, “it should take about eight months from now to get the preexisting host community registered.”
- Only about 15% of SF short-term rentals are registered [Curbed SF]
- 76 Percent of SF AirBNBs Illegal [Curbed SF]
- City to Airbnb: Crack down or pay up [Curbed SF]
- Airbnb settles lawsuit with San Francisco over home-sharing rules [Mercury News]
- Airbnb settles lawsuit with San Francisco [TechCrunch]