Foregoing the Cleaver for the Scalpel: How New York Can Add Some Nuance to Its Short-Term Rental Laws

In 2010, New York passed a law that made it illegal for residents living in areas zoned as class A multiple dwelling to rent their homes on a short-term basis using services like Airbnb. Just six years later, New York went even further and prohibited the advertisement of these short-term rentals. Th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Iowa law review 2018-01, Vol.103 (2), p.817-839
Main Author: Minor, J.T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Automobile rentals
Black markets
Cities
Hotels & motels
Housing
Laws, regulations and rules
Legislatures
Licensing, certification and accreditation
Local government
Local taxation
Management
Multiple dwellings
Neighborhoods
Petition
Rental housing
Rentals
Sharing economy
Short term
State laws
Tax rates
Tax revenue estimating
Tax revenues
Taxation
Tenants
Tourism
Tourism promotion
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Summary:In 2010, New York passed a law that made it illegal for residents living in areas zoned as class A multiple dwelling to rent their homes on a short-term basis using services like Airbnb. Just six years later, New York went even further and prohibited the advertisement of these short-term rentals. This Note will argue that New York's short-term rental laws go too far in banning short-term rentals outright. In addition, this Note will discuss solutions for how New York can provide greater nuance to these laws by simultaneously addressing the legislature's primary concerns with short-term rentals and allowing New York to reap the tax and tourism benefits that these rentals provide. These solutions include (1) imposing at least the standard hotel tax on short-term renters and allowing services like Airbnb to facilitate the collection of that tax; (2) distinguishing between commercial and noncommercial short-term renters (allowing the latter and outlawing the former); and (3) enabling individual neighborhoods to opt out of allowing noncommercial short-term rentals via a petition and subsequent hearing.
ISSN:0021-0552