Posted on 06/29/2010 10:02:20 AM PDT by C19fan
Hundreds of New Yorkers, like others nationwide, have been making a few extra dollars by using sites such as AirBnB, Crashpadder, Roomorama, and Craigslist to sublet pullout sofas, living rooms, and whole apartments.
But that may end soon. This week, New York state senators vote on a bill that would make it illegal for any homeowner or renter to sublet for less than a month. The new law would be a blanket ban on short-term rentals no matter how ethical the renter is. (It's always been illegal to violate co-op leases and condominium bylaws.)
This proposed law is bad news for any budget traveler visiting New York City and renting one of the 3,000 spaces that go for much (much) less than the nightly rate at hotels. Cheap digs may be history.
(Excerpt) Read more at current.newsweek.com ...
I do not see why it is the governments business if I want to let someone sleep on my couch for a few bucks.
This is just another barrier against the free market.
I imagine that they will find ways around this stupidity...eg instead of renting for 1 night for $250 you rent for a month for $1.. however there is a daily entrance/exit fee of $249.
The last two years, I've had to work in and around NYC for a 2-3 month stretch. I've stayed in the Motel 6 in Piscataway, NJ...
As always with government it’s all about the revenue. People doing that aren’t paying the hotel room tax, and since it’s so wide open they never will. Of course the way around this law is you go ahead and “rent” for the month anyway, but with the knowledge the person will only be there for 2 nights. Handshake deals are hard to bust.
I guess that they can always open their homes to their “cousin Harry”, who will be glad to kick in a few bucks for “groceries”. ;-)
The real reason is the hotel taxes paid for each night stayed.
The second real reason is that some of these sub-letters don’t report their income from the rentals, I’m sure.
Follow the money.
For some reason, the idiot politicians do not realize there will be a good chunk of tourists who will now no longer vacation NYC so the state and city will lose out on all the sales tax revenue that would of been spent.
Spare bedroom $3000 a month payable in installments of $100 a day. If you move out early, oh well.
seems to be a pretty obvious solution, so we’ll see.
Renting for less than a month is wise. In NYS, if you sleep anywhere for 30 days straight you have legal standing in that dwelling and it’ll take months to get you out legally.
Mall outlets from King of Prussia in the east to Grove City in the west showed how many jobs would be lost (and with them the payroll taxes, taxes on business profits, etc.) as soon as tourists from neighboring states stopped driving over here for major clothing purchases. Fat Eddy still wouldn't back down, but the state legislature forced him to do so anyway.
Clothing sales here are a major business and tourist draw. Now if only the State Game & Fish Department would have the brains to quit soaking out of state hunters and fishermen for licenses, we'd see a little more of that trade as well.
It might also be hard for New York to tax a family renting out a room a few nights a year... I don’t think they’re doing this because they “care”...
You mean there are some that DO???
Of course the police will have to troll Craigslist and set up apartment rental stings.
We call that being "penny smart and pound foolish."
Part of the issue is that some of these apartments are rent-controlled or rent-stabilized (technically different in NYC, but same concept). The result is that the leaseholder is making a fat profit, while the actual owner of the property is forced by the government to rent the apartment for way below market rates.
Protecting hotels and stopping people from making a few dollars that the government doesn’t get to tax.
When I needed a room in NYC on short notice, I couldn’t even find one for $400 (there was a $250 room that went in 15 minutes after I got over the sticker shock). Never did get a room.
Waiting for the crackdown on babysitters providing unlicensed childcare services and using a minor laborforce.
No rebuttal, but wanted to change my taglin.
“That’s a bingo”
Isn't that already specified in the terms of the lease?
Isn’t what already specified in the lease? Can’t sublet? Yes, but it’s impossible to enforce. It’s not like the landlords are going to help enforce it — they’re not going to get paid any more than the government-decreed rental rate no matter what, and when tenants are having trouble making the rent payments (like now), it’s actually beneficial to the landlords to let this sort of arrangement proceed undisturbed.
When there’s an active, public market in “no-tel” rentals, it obviously greatly increases the amount of this going on, and the profitability. Easier to outlaw it completely.
Better yet, get rid of all the unConstitutional rent control laws, and let private property owners set their own rules re sublets. But of course, that’s far too radical a proposal for the NYC government to consider. Only tweaks to the socialist system are open for consideration.
On a related note, there’s also quite of bit of similar stuff going on in public housing projects, though obviously not as a susbtitute for real hotels. A friend of mine lived in such an arrangement briefly, where the apartment was officially leased to a welfare mother who supposedly had multiple children (including teens) living there, thus qualifying her for a huge apartment. But only two younger children actually lived there, and the woman (who obviously wasn’t paying a dime for the apartment in the first place) was renting out rooms at standard NYC rental rates. The welfare crowd is actually very pro-capitalism, as long as somebody gives them the capital for free.
Hundreds of New Yorkers, like others nationwide, have been making a few extra dollars by using sites such as AirBnB, Crashpadder, Roomorama, and Craigslist to sublet pullout sofas, living rooms, and whole apartments. But that may end soon. This week, New York state senators vote on a bill that would make it illegal for any homeowner or renter to sublet for less than a month. The new law would be a blanket ban on short-term rentals no matter how ethical the renter is. (It's always been illegal to violate co-op leases and condominium bylaws.)I'm sure this crackdown will be just as effective as the Rent Control Act. Abby Hoffman was living under an assumed name, on the run from various charges -- and yet managed to sublet his rent-controlled apartment all during his exile.
Too easy. Charge $200 or whatever a month, get the person’s name on a 30-day lease, they stay for a week and go home.
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