Charlottesville, Albemarle and AirBnB

Great story from Laura Ingles at C-Ville about the growing popularity of AirBnB. The question:

So what are local governments doing?

Airbnb isn’t just for big cities anymore, and neither is the controversy around it. Charlottesville and Albemarle County officials say they don’t plan to wipe out homestay arrangements, but they are interested in making sure renters are doing everything above board.

Take the time to read the whole thing.

And for a preview of how Charlottesville and other localities may react/respond to AirBnB, watch New York City (no longer available):

Airbnb, which has already taken down 2,000 accommodation listings (no longer available) in New York from “bad actors,” agreed to warn all new and old hosts in the state that they may be breaking hotel laws.

For the next year, new New York hosts will now have to click through a screen informing them of New York short-term rental restrictions, and messages will be emailed to old hosts as well.

It says that apartments in buildings that have multiple dwellings can’t be rented unless a permanent occupant is present, no money is exchanged, or the stay is longer than 30 consecutive days. It lays out tax information, rent-control regulations, zoning codes and business-licensing rules.

“Lost” revenue aside, I would seek to apply my “don’t be a butthead” rule to the neighbor issue. If you let your space via AirBnB, don’t be a butthead and inconvenience your neighbors. Chances are, if their lives aren’t negatively affected by your making some money, they won’t raise a stink.

Just wait until Charlottesville gets Uber.