A new start-up that is directed toward regulating AirBnB

[joe]

"Host Compliance" is the name of a new start-up that has developed software that is capable of scanning the market in order to identify AirBnB hosts. It is offering its services to local authorities that are trying to enforce regulation against short-term rentals, and the software apparently can save these authorities a lot of time and money.
Technology in the service of regulation, if you will.
From the Forbes article :
"The business model is to automate the identification of cheats, to put the onus on hosts to prove compliance, and effectively, to become a private tax collector. For their efforts, local authorities are paying an undisclosed percentage of the value of the taxes collected; somewhere between 5% and 20% commission."

Cities are starting to wake up and look for the right balance between the negative aspects of the tourism explosion, and its benefits.

Also : AirBnB has come to agreements with Boston and Miami Beach authorities, agreeing to hand over data that until now it refused to. It seems that it has realized that regulation is closing in on various fronts, and better to adapt than continue to fight. From "Wired" :

Airbnb Starts to Play Nice With Cities

The short-term rental startup has settled lawsuits with Boston and Miami Beach, agreeing to turn over data officials say they need to police the industry.

www.wired.com

 

[PatrickLondon]

The managers of the estate where I live managed to identify a number of people here advertising Airbnb lettings (in this country it's not yet a major issue for governmental regulation, more commonly a matter of contractual obligations under the terms of leases).

However, our managers couldn't identify the specific flats and individuals beyond their first names, and got themselves into trouble by trying to shame them on our Facebook group!