All Forum Posts by: Maurice W. Evans

Today is July 1, 2024

There are currently OVER 30 Homes For Sale listed by SOWAE CORP in Queens, NY...

If they have done this over 5 years, it seems there is no intention of any platform caring about their fake listings.

Quote from @Sheila F.:

Does anybody know about medium rental lease is? Is it only the timeframe that differs from a long-term rental lease? I’m branching into medium and short term rentals and I’m doing my due diligence right now! Any advice and help would be greatly appreciated!  

It really varies by the state 

Naturally, the first thing to jump out is the term.

but generally there are specialized amenities, increased entry maintenance, and possibly specialized rules.

again, your state laws will guide a lot of this.

more important than the lease, especially in strong tenant rights states, is discovering who you are leasing to!

Quote from @Justin D' Apolito:

Quote from @Justin D' Apolito:

Quote from @Maurice W. Evans:

Quote from @Justin D' Apolito:

I am interested in doing STRs in NYC (I live here) because I see how much tourism is here year round. I see people all over my neighborhood (in Queens) with luggage and there are many listings even though there are a lot of city restrictions involved. I am not in the financial place to purchase a place to STR but I've heard of making a deal with a landlord and being able to rent a place on a lease, furnish and STR legally.

Anybody heard of this or doing it? Why shouldn't I pursue this, besides the usual time and energy cons that an STR brings?

 Hi,

STRs (less than 30 days) have by and large been illegal for some decades for any building that is not a hotel or shelter etc.

Check into local law 18, which provides a registration solution for primary occupants who want to SHARE the space in their permanent residence. You can't have more than 2 guests at a time when room sharing, and they must have full access to your entire dwelling (no locked rooms). You have to be there.  Registration comes with other requirements as well.

STR a unit you do not live in, is illegal. Except for hotels etc and Class B buildings.

If you buy a unit in a class B building, you can STR.

OR 

You can do what is known as "arbitrage". Where you lease an apartment, and then Airbnb that out. But it would have to be Medium-Term (30+ days) since this will be secondary. In this way, you won't have to BUY/OWN a unit.

My wife and I are professional co-hosts, we manage 25 doors, many of which are Airbnb. Happy to point you in the right direction.

I guess my original question was about arbitrage but I wasn't familiar with the term. 

STR arbitrage is illegal in NYC. MTR arbitrage is perfectly legal.

Quote from @Justin D' Apolito:

I am interested in doing STRs in NYC (I live here) because I see how much tourism is here year round. I see people all over my neighborhood (in Queens) with luggage and there are many listings even though there are a lot of city restrictions involved. I am not in the financial place to purchase a place to STR but I've heard of making a deal with a landlord and being able to rent a place on a lease, furnish and STR legally.

Anybody heard of this or doing it? Why shouldn't I pursue this, besides the usual time and energy cons that an STR brings?

 Hi,

STRs (less than 30 days) have by and large been illegal for some decades for any building that is not a hotel or shelter etc.

Check into local law 18, which provides a registration solution for primary occupants who want to SHARE the space in their permanent residence. You can't have more than 2 guests at a time when room sharing, and they must have full access to your entire dwelling (no locked rooms). You have to be there.  Registration comes with other requirements as well.

STR a unit you do not live in, is illegal. Except for hotels etc and Class B buildings.

If you buy a unit in a class B building, you can STR.

OR 

You can do what is known as "arbitrage". Where you lease an apartment, and then Airbnb that out. But it would have to be Medium-Term (30+ days) since this will be secondary. In this way, you won't have to BUY/OWN a unit.

My wife and I are professional co-hosts, we manage 25 doors, many of which are Airbnb. Happy to point you in the right direction.

Quote from @Harold Looney:

Quote from @Jeremy W.:

If you can become an expert in the regulation of NYC, and/or talk to an attorney who is an expert on the hosting side, I will put up some money.

Jeremy W. - Maurice W. Evans stays up-to-date on NYC STR regulations. You two should connect.

 Thanks for mentioning me :D 

Quote from @Jeremy W.:

If you can become an expert in the regulation of NYC, and/or talk to an attorney who is an expert on the hosting side, I will put up some money.

I am an expert, I manage multiple units, let's JV.

Quote from @Carlos Ptriawan:

I would short Airbnb stock to the 50 , lol.

for a less than 1% loss in their revenue?

Quote from @Harold Looney:

Maurice W. Evans - thanks for the update. I believe it will inevitably come down to how any new laws are enforced. There are numerous "illegal" apartments in NYC even though those laws have been on the books for years. The Airbnb lawsuit may make some landlords more willing to take the risk and see what happens, inspired by Airbnb's statement that  - "the new rules force us to stand up on behalf of Hosts."

There is also the affordability case that Airbnb states in the email - "allow New Yorkers to continue to share their homes at a time when more families are struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living."

Affordability is a hot political topic.

 it is definitely a hot topic.  I feel it is performative, because

-they waited till now (which is when they should be giving 30 days' notice to hosts) to file this suit which essentially gives them some time to announce to hosts (on Tuesday) thereby decreasing the amount of time of dealing with the pushback)
- they are going after privacy and complication (which can be resolved without reversing the law

-they were VERY active during the comment period and got changes like a safe harbor to cover themselves added to the final law

-they have been radio silent with NYC hosts directly and indirectly  about precise questions regarding dates and what happens to bookings already in place

There might be a delay to enforcement, but a delay is still a loss (and potentially more significant liability for hosts)

Again, the enforcement is multi-vectored.  Unlike with the many weed stores, this is not whack-a-mole or needle in a haystack because each OTA has to report and is financially liable.

Booking.com and VRBO made it clear they weren't interested in fighting or getting fines and insisted hosts register or delist.

Airbnb has instituted hosts, and now people are seeing a dialogue saying they must enter a registration number to continue (currently it has an option to "skip for now").  Eventually, that will be mandatory.

Some people feel AirBnb is acting a lot different than it is talking and their actions are foreshadowing a lockdown on NYC STR hosts :/

For those wanting to know what the "Dates" are with Abb - here it is: Next Tuesday.

As has been stated many times, all OTA consider July 1st the enforcement date.
Naturally, they have filed a lawsuit to stall, but have explicitly stated they will COOPERATE with the law...

At the end of the day, AirBnB is going to follow the law. The question is, what will be the extent of the law?

Do you think it will be:

1. -Redacted?
2. -Modified?
3. -Delayed?
4. -or Proceed as planned?

Regarding Local Law 18, Airbnb has filed a lawsuit. 

https://news.airbnb.com/an-upd...