Short-Term Rental Horror Stories in America
Illegal short-term rental listings on Big Tech platforms, such as Airbnb and HomeAway, are fracturing communities across the country – replacing neighbors with strangers, increasing the cost to own or rent a home, and bringing uncontrolled parties and violence into once-peaceful neighborhoods.
Americans are greeted with local and national news filled with unthinkable horror stories on a daily basis. It’s clear that lives and communities are being broken due to these short-term rental units. Unregulated, ‘illegal hotels’ listed on these Big Tech rental platforms are wreaking havoc on our neighborhoods and must be stopped.
National Stories see more
Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away
The way Airbnb has handled crimes such as the New York attack, which occurred during a bitter regulatory fight, shows how critical the… Read More
Police Identify Victims In Two Fatal Shootings In Northeast Washington
A woman who was fatally shot early Thursday at a residence near Union Station has been identified as an 18-year-old from Northwest… Read More
Father Says Airbnb Aid After Daughter’s Death Was Damage Control
Lauren Kassirer, a 35-year-old New York City high school teacher, was found naked, bruised, and near death in an Airbnb rental on the… Read More
Short-Term Rental Platforms Skirt The Law
City leaders across the country are trying to protect neighborhoods from these horror stories by passing short-term rental laws. But Big Tech rental platforms have been fighting to block common-sense local ordinances and even misusing and manipulating narrow provisions of the Communications Decency Act (CDA 230) to avoid compliance with local laws.
These Big Tech rental platforms, especially Airbnb and HomeAway, are shamefully exploiting CDA 230 to shield illegal rentals on their websites and steal affordable housing options away from hard-working families, while padding their corporate profits off this illegal activity.
A National Solution: Amend CDA 230
Congress needs to step in to stop these Big Tech rental platforms from exploiting CDA 230 to avoid compliance with local short-term rental laws that are needed to protect neighborhoods. It’s time for Congress to step in and enact the bipartisan Protecting Local Authority & Neighborhoods (PLAN) Act.