Apartment dwellers who use Airbnb to rent out their rooms are worried they’ll lose out on the extra income, following a court decision this week that upheld a $2,400 fine against an Upper East Side landlord who used the service, DNAinfo reported.
The ruling dealt with a tenant, Nigel Warren, who allegedly ran afoul of the city’s illegal hotel law by renting out his room using the short-term rental site, as previously reported.
One Airbnb user told DNAinfo that he had some canceled bookings following the decision.
“It is my primary source of income,” said one self-employed East Village resident, who requested anonymity for fear of repercussions. “It is a real threat to my livelihood.”
The tenant began renting out a single room or sometimes her whole three-bedroom pad in order to take care of an ill family member, she said, adding that she made thousands of dollars by using the service during the past two years.
Others, however, said they will press on. A 25-year-old tenant said she would rent out one room in her apartment instead of both.
“We only wanted to sublet the whole apartment to earn some quick cash and get the money back that we put down on the apartment in the first place,” she told DNAinfo. [DNAinfo] —Zachary Kussin