Furthermore, Airbnb alleges the city’s new rental law does not do enough to address what the company believes to be a “broken registration process”.
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Airbnb said that its suit, filed in court on June 27, is “the best way to protect our community of hosts and guests”.
Airbnb’s lawsuit claims that the ordinance violates federal communications laws and asks a judge to block it.
Under the law, which passed with a 10-0 vote by the city’s Board of Supervisors earlier this month, companies would be fined $1,000 for every unregistered host who rents property on their platform.
Voters in San Francisco rejected a measure last November that would have limited short-term housing rentals to 75 nights a year, after Airbnb waged a sophisticated, $8 million political campaign to defeat it.
San Francisco began requiring hosts to register and pay hotel taxes a year ago, but has struggled to enforce that requirement. The law went into effect on Friday, but many of its provisions, including potential fines against Airbnb, won’t kick in until late next month.
The ordinance comes after San Francisco’s Office of Short-Term Rentals has faced criticism for failing to enforce existing laws meant to curb the effect of short-term rentals on the city’s tight housing market. Airbnb has called the registration process onerous and overly complicated.
“Instead of punishing Airbnb for publishing unlawful listings, the City could enforce its short-term rental law directly against hosts who violate it”, the lawsuit said.
“There is a need for policies that protect San Francisco’s housing stock and ensure the collection of hotel taxes but also enable residents who depend on Airbnb to make ends meet”, Airbnb wrote. “That is exactly what we are asking the short-term platforms to do here”, San Francisco supervisor David Campos told the San Francisco Chronicle.
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The new law will have detrimental effects on the operations of Airbnb in San Francisco. At present, the city has 9,448 active houses listed, of which 5,636 are rented out as entire homes. Specifically, Airbnb argues that it goes against the Communication Decency Act of 1996 and the Stored Communications Act. That provision says that websites that host information are protected from laws that might hold them responsible for what people do or say on their website. The company argues that the city’s rules about what postings are allowed on Airbnb’s platform are overly broad.
