Lawmakers join Elizabeth Warren's call for US to 'step in' on illegal Airbnb hotels

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Lawmakers join Elizabeth Warren's call for US to 'step in' on illegal Airbnb hotels

Exclusive: a joint letter marks the escalation of a growing campaign
for Airbnb to eliminate illegal hotels that take affordable housing off
the market

Sam Levin in San Francisco
Thursday 13 October 2016 11.00 BST

Airbnb is facing renewed calls for a federal investigation from more than a dozen US cities, boosting senator Elizabeth Warren’s efforts to force the popular home-sharing startup to release data on its affordable housing impact.

A coalition of American lawmakers, including leaders from New York, San Francisco, Seattle, St Louis and Portland, urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday to “help cities to protect consumers” and “study the extent to which the [short-term rental] industry is facilitating commercial operations”.

The joint letter, first reported by the Guardian, marks an escalation of a growing national campaign to force Airbnb to eliminate illegal hotels and large-scale commercial businesses that city leaders say are contributing to affordable housing shortages and urban displacement.

The push comes months after Warren – the progressive senator from Massachusetts and a high-profile Hillary Clinton supporter – urged the FTC to examine Airbnb, an unprecedented step in US lawmakers’ scrutiny of the booming “sharing economy”.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/13/airbnb-cities-urge-government-crackdown-elizabeth-warren

[NBachers]

1. Yes! Continue with these investigations, and shut down any illegal use of Airbnb