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Scenerio: Shareholder with a long history of problematic behaviors including multiple lawsuits is suspected of using apartment as an air b&b. When questioned once (management simply asked for contact infor on family staying in apartment) shareholder became extremely objectionable and demanded to know who was asking about visitors and never provided the infor and starting making claims of being "singled out".
Shareholder recently sent an email to board stating visitors were coming for the holidays.
Here's the catch- there really is no obvious violation to house rules or PL. But, what if the shareholder is "secretly" collecting $ for hosting tourists/visitors?
So the conversation takes us to how can a Board address the issue of increasing new yorkers making a buck by "renting" a coach or two as a nyc air bb in the co-ops?
Airbnb is illegal in NYS/NYC. When it comes to your residential building, no-one has vetted the visitor as a Board would do on a sublease or roommate scenario, no one is watching out for the shareholders. The renter is often not in Residence so they cannot oversee their guest's behavior either. You have no idea who or what your neighbors have rented to, for how long etc. They are, if this is in a Coop, in breach of the houseguest, sublease & roommate rules of the Proprietary Lease /Bylaws etc. In the event of a bad choice and a situation, the Coop could be liable for the burglary, assault, rape or death/injury of a shareholder by the illegal renter. With no information to track or chase them down. The background check by Airbnb is minimal. It is bad news, high risk, and has no upside for anyone other than the renter who makes some money, which was not part of the purchase agreement when buying shares in the Coop. For serial Airbnb renter, it is now a non-resident shareholder turning their apartment into an SRO mini-hotel, not the same as a Board controlled sublease at all.
Sue - Please check your proprietary lease. In my lease (standard 1980's co-op conversion document) paragraphs #14 and #15 specifically address occupancy and subletting. Paragraph #15 in particular spells out the conditions for subletting, all of which are violated by an Air B&B type of sublet.
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My thoughts on AIR B&B are that they are anti-community, opposed to owner occupied units and may compromise security. Unless AIR B&B charges and pays sales and NYC/NYS Hotel taxes (which I doubt), those tax dollars that would have gone to fund local issues like schools do not exist (it would have if the people using AIR B&B would have gotten a hotel room). Remember owner occupied status and the issues getting mortgages in buildings under the owner occupied threshold? Can an owner with significant AIR B&B usage really claim owner occupied status? Also, one of the reasons people buy into a co-op is improved security. These “guests” are let into the building without Board approval and if something happens, will the Building and the Board be held liability?
I think you need to stamp this out for good. Just make the rules for everyone.
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