If you are renting out a room in Paris, you may want to make sure that you are registered as an Airbnb host. Otherwise, your annoyed next-door neighbor may call the authorities and tell on you.
This is because Paris officials launched a new section of the city's open data portal on Tuesday, May 10, that reveals the residents who are have properly registered as a host on the lodging website.
The portal allows residents to inform their annoying neighbors that they could rat on them if they don't get their act together and report those who are not playing by the rules. Those who are renting a place for Airbnb users without being a registered host could be slapped with a $28,000 fine if they are caught.
In March 2014, the housing legislation "Bill ALUR" was signed into a law, which states that wherever you live in France, you can rent out the home in which you live without permission or a permit.
According to Airbnb, the typical French host makes an additional €2,000 by sharing their space for 26 nights a year. In 2015, tourist taxes from guests on behalf of hosts started being automatically collected and remitted to the city of Paris on any Airbnb reservation in Paris, which generated €1.2 million in tax revenue to Paris in the first three months of operation.
But officials decided to open the data to the residents of Paris because the numbers of hosts are just not adding up. This means that the city is missing out on tourist taxes that hosts are supposed to be paying.
Paris is one of the website's most popular cities where travelers can find a place to stay without having to check into a hotel. The company says that there are more than 41,000 listings in Paris, but only 126 places of residence are listed as Airbnb sites on the city's website.
While this may mean that many hosts are getting away with not paying the taxes just like a hotel has to, if they have upset their neighbors, they can probably guarantee that they will find themselves in some trouble.
The city mayor's office said that giving residents access to the host info portal is not to put residents against each other, but we can't help but think that all-out wars might start breaking out just like in the movie Neighbors.
"Paris has clear home sharing rules that allow local residents to share their space for up to 120 days without a permit, sending a simple message to locals that everyone can benefit from visitors to their communities," Senior Public Affairs Manager Peter Huntingford told Tech Times. "The actions announced by City Hall are confusing and refer only to properties shared for more than 120 days. We too oppose unwelcome commercial operators and want to work with Paris on progressive measures to promote the rules and build an open, transparent and responsible home sharing community."
It seems that this system will continue to shake up the relationship between Airbnb and Paris. Many people complain that the website has transformed the once-quiet neighborhoods into loud and rowdy tourist traps.
Paris isn't the only city that seems to be against those on Airbnb who are not following the rules. New York City has its own list of problems with the website, which include hosts charging premium rates to spend a night in an affordable housing apartment. According to Airbnb, from November 2014 to November 2015, 55 percent of hosts in NYC rented out their entire apartments, which is illegal. Those caught can face up to a $30,00 fine and even get sued by their building's super.
Just like Paris, New York City was found to have numbers that don't match up when it comes to its documented Airbnb hosts. Airbnb revealed that during the previously mentioned time period, hosts in outer Manhattan made a median amount of $5,110 with 13,400 listings, but Staten Island hosts had a median of $5,221 with only 200 listings.
And while residents might be annoyed with tourists visiting their buildings, it's hotels who are really angry in New York. So much so that unions for the top hotels are funding organizations to help them lobby to block Airbnb in NYC. Even Mayor Bill de Blasio sees a problem and is cracking down on illegal listings.
Meanwhile, Airbnb took matters into its own hands in San Francisco by removing illegal listings straightaway. This comes after pressure from the government, which also reported the amount of house listings.
The residents of San Francisco have also voiced their grievances with the website, with more than 15,000 people signing a petition asking for more host restrictions and oversight last week. Many neighbors also believe that Airbnb has caused prices in their neighborhoods to increase.
The company has previously stood its ground against cities in an attempt to protect the privacy of its hosts, but many more fed-up neighbors would likely speak up with a little encouragement.
Photo: Rachel Zack | Flickr
