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Air BnB renting 2nd bedroom legality

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Air BnB renting 2nd bedroom legality

Postby northbrooklyn23 » Sun Feb 24, 2013 11:37 pm

I live in a 2 BR apt. What is the legality of renting the second bedroom through a service such as Air BnB? I would be living in the apartment at the same time, so would I be obligated to let the landlord know I plan to rent out one of the rooms to short term stays? The landlord lives below me in the building.
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Postby TenantNet » Mon Feb 25, 2013 2:23 am

The short answer is that while you are allowed to have a roommate, you can't run a BNB. Anything considered short-term or a BNB would be illegal.
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Postby ronin » Sun Mar 03, 2013 2:39 am

There was also something about a crackdown on people who post on Air BnB for renting an illegal hotel room.

Basically any deal for less than a month is illegal- and multiple paying roommates in the same month can be an illegal rooming house situation.

There was something about this on the forum in 2012.

Not so sure the city is enforcing, but there are legit hotels every three feet nowadays so that is probably the city's motivation to enforce the law.

Also, depending on your situation, you may just be giving the LL a reason to give you the boot. Not a good plan of action.

A legit full time roommate is your right. Rooming house is not.
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Postby Emeraldstar » Sun Mar 03, 2013 2:29 pm

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Postby TenantNet » Sun Mar 03, 2013 4:04 pm

Most of that is just PR for the Mayor. Most illegal hotels still operate with impunity. There's one on my block where hotel guests have replaced long-term rent stabilized tenants. Bloomberg has done nothing. Quinn has done nothing.

When something like this happens, they usually pick one or two examples as poster children, and ignore the rest.
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Postby Emeraldstar » Sun Mar 03, 2013 10:28 pm

Hi All
Too true TN. The outer boroughs as well.
I was going to leave the above comments & log off but this topic pisses me off so much I'm going to rant & ask for your patience TN
There really should be some kind of sporadic mandatory income testing for supers. If their investments don't jive with the salery then might a red flag wave? With all the kickback/shut up money they get on this topic it's got to be spent somewhere. I heard 32bj mearly suspends them for a short time & places them in another bld. LL's are probably thrilled to get them. Legit tenants should be calling 311 day in & out when they see throngs of people with suitcases....duh...ok I could go on but I'll spare you all.
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Postby ronin » Wed Mar 06, 2013 1:35 am

Tenant, I think the City is enforcing now, but not because they give a crap about tenants. I think that they are enforcing nowadays because there are legit hotels every 3 feet in Manhattan nowadays. Teeny tiny little Marriots and Hiltons are even all over the outer boroughs.

I think that these real hotels are the real force behind the City's new urge to enforce illegal hotel statutes.

The irony is that many of the annoyances of an illegal hotel are continued by legit hotels because the tourists still take over and the hotel gets a "loading zone" that makes it so residents cant park. And because it is all legit you can't complain anymore (however at least the City gets its taxes out of the whole operation).

At least they don't share the building with residents, but for residents it can still be a headache even though the legit places are better run and often quieter.

IMHO
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Postby TenantNet » Wed Mar 06, 2013 2:03 am

I disagree. There have been some changes in the law, but not from pressure of legit hotels (whose business is usually about 70 from business customers).

Of the illegal hotels of which I am aware, they continue to operate and the city is taking no (or little) action except in a few high profile cases. These are when operators take over large chunks of RS buildings, force the tenants out, and run hotel operations in the residential buildings. It violates many codes.
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Postby Emeraldstar » Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:42 pm

Hi All
Ah yes we outer peeps just love the "teeny" hotels wedged on our small streets. The clacking back & forth of high heels like a symphony of castinets :roll:
They do pressure the illegal apt hotels.... to launder the cash! Ahh such is life on the other side of the pond :lol:
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Postby Emeraldstar » Sat Mar 09, 2013 1:37 am

Hi All
I showed this post to my neighbor their response is astonishing.
Now TN and Ronin you heard this first here.....
In my bld there are walk in closets approx 6' length & 4' deep. The larger apts have 2-3 of them.

My neighbor said " during NPR searches it was discovered that some were renting the closets for $30.per night. In them was a foam mat/bedding. They were listed in the local daily as having a private entrance" :lol:
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