Menu
An Open Letter to Airbnb Users. Your family vacations are destroying other families. Written by Jared A. Brock is an award-winning biographer, PBS documentarian, and the cell-free founder of the popular futurist blog Surviving Tomorrow, where he provides thoughtful people with contrarian perspectives on the corporatist anti-culture. His writing has appeared in Esquire, The Guardian, Smithsonian, USA Today, and TIME Magazine. (2022)
The Long-Term Horizon For Short Term Rentals. Well written and researched article that delves into many of the challenges Airbnb has on its plate as it turn 13 years old such as illegal listings, crime & safety related concerns, its impact on housing markets, backlash from neighbors, the increase in local STR regulations & its struggle to achieve profitability. (2021)
Airbnb raises violent crime rates in cities as long-term residents are pushed out, says study. Researchers in the United States say there is a link between Airbnb rentals and violent crime in cities. Researchers found there was a positive correlation between higher penetration of Airbnb properties in an area – for example buildings containing multiple Airbnb lets – and a rise in violence. (2021)
Another study showing that STRs do have an impact on local house housing market prices and availability. See full study. (2021)
Father Says Airbnb Aid After Daughter’s Death Was Damage Control. Company provided money and support when a New York high school teacher was found unconscious in a rented villa in Mexico. Her father now says the family was caught up in an effort to avoid a ‘public relations nightmare.’ (2021) See also: Airbnb has secretive ‘black box’ team paying out $50 million a year to keep disaster stays out of press. See also Bloomberg: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away.
This Forbes article (2/21/2020) should be required reading for all city and state leaders. The influence of the so-called ‘Airbnb effect’ on local housing markets has grown into a significant cause for concern, particularly when looking at its impacts on housing stock, prices and communities. Economic Policy Institute: ‘While the introduction and expansion of Airbnb into cities around the world carries large potential economic benefits and costs, the costs to renters and local jurisdictions likely exceed the benefits to travellers and property owners.’Harvard Business Review: Airbnb is having a detrimental impact on housing stock as it encourages landlords to move their properties out from out of the long-term rental and for-sale markets and into the short-term rental market. (2020)
The study Short-Term Rentals: Data, Negotiation and Collaboration Strategies for Cities, shows excess difficulty in negotiations between cities and short term rental platforms. The majority of cities participating in the study have attempted to establish negotiations with the STR Platforms operating within their administrative limits. It becomes more flagrant when the results show that none of the cities have reached a satisfactory end as a result of their negotiation efforts. (2020)
This Forbes article (2/21/2020) should be required reading for all city and state leaders. The influence of the so-called ‘Airbnb effect’ on local housing markets has grown into a significant cause for concern, particularly when looking at its impacts on housing stock, prices and communities. Economic Policy Institute: ‘While the introduction and expansion of Airbnb into cities around the world carries large potential economic benefits and costs, the costs to renters and local jurisdictions likely exceed the benefits to travellers and property owners.’Harvard Business Review: Airbnb is having a detrimental impact on housing stock as it encourages landlords to move their properties out from out of the long-term rental and for-sale markets and into the short-term rental market. (2020)
The study Short-Term Rentals: Data, Negotiation and Collaboration Strategies for Cities, shows excess difficulty in negotiations between cities and short term rental platforms. The majority of cities participating in the study have attempted to establish negotiations with the STR Platforms operating within their administrative limits. It becomes more flagrant when the results show that none of the cities have reached a satisfactory end as a result of their negotiation efforts. (2020)
Airbnb’s S-1 filing says in black & white they can’t guarantee the safety of hosts, guests or 3rd parties, and that they do not verify the identify of hosts or guests or other third-parties who might be present during a rental. (2020)
An International longitudinal study of Airbnb in popular US and world-wide cities reveals these destinations experienced reduced quality of life for residents, reduced housing availability and affordability, a change in the character of neighborhoods, additional competition for hospitality businesses, and potential safety risks for guests. (2020)
Airbnb is funding deregulation campaigns in cities around the world. Residents beware! Airbnb is on a mission to override your city’s longstanding residential zoning ordinances and commercialize your neighborhoods. See research report. (2021)
Airbnb Fights Its ‘Party House Problem’ – The New York Times. Noise. Damages. Safety questions. Airbnb is racing to address the risks posed by partying guests before it goes public. (2020)
Airbnb’s IPO Warning: Unhappy Neighbors Are Fighting Back – Wall Street Journal. Residents across the country have ratcheted up grass-roots efforts aimed at keeping authority over short-term rentals in the hands of towns and cities. (2020)
Airbnb opponents take fight to U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission ahead of IPO. Copy of letter here. As neighborhood, community and affordable housing organizations actively engaged in efforts to ameliorate the harmful, hazardous affects Airbnb and its operators bring to cities around the globe, we are keenly interested in seeing the Commission exercise its statutory authority to ensure that the corporation’s financial and risk assessments are accurate and complete. The need is particularly acute given that many of Airbnb’s public descriptions of its business model, practices, and operations are controversial and at odds with the findings of independent analysts. Indeed, many of the corporation’s pronouncements are often at odds with reality. (2020)
What Airbnb really does to a neighborhood. Key points included: Airbnbs have measureable impacts to affordable housing, and are linked to rising rents and changes in an area’s atmosphere; Neighborhood surveys showed 95% of neighbors had issues with STRs; These will become even more prevalent as Airbnb pushes to host one billion guests a year by 2028 – one billion guests per year, that’s a lot of new STRs. (2018)
[Airbnb has] been one of the most aggressive companies I’ve dealt with,” says Liz Krueger, a New York state senator… Airbnb will now sue over laws it opposes even when it’s unlikely to win: “They have deep pockets, so it doesn’t matter to them.” (2018)
What is a ‘Bundle of Rights?’ A bundle of rights is a set of legal rights afforded to the real estate title holder. It can include the right of possession, right of control, right of exclusion, right of enjoyment and right of disposition. Real estate ownership carries with it a complex set of rights, and the bundle of rights concept has traditionally been the way in which those rights are assigned.