Make it harder for landlords to evict you to rent on Airbnb

The Main Problem

Almost everywhere, "Airbnb will probably get you evicted, priced out...and ruin your life."  It's funny but true.   You’d have a hard time finding or keeping a long-term rental because landlords make more money on short-term rentals with sites like Airbnb. Landlords make more renting for 90 days vs. a year!  See details below.

Are you #AirbnScrewed? You might be!  It's happening to us.  So we wrote this petition that:

- Will not affect your ability to host or rent on sites like Aibnb.  

- Tries to make it harder for landlords to evict you to rent on Airbnb. 

What happens in SF can set a precedent for your town. 5,000 San Francisco (SF) units were changed to short-term rentals.  

So will you sign this petition to shape the Airbnb law, which might pass on Oct. 7 in SF?  Or at least share our funny posts on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

4 Gory Details of What Might Happen To You & Happy Endings If You Sign:

1. Your landlord can evict you even if you did nothing wrong (no-fault eviction): 

S/he can file an eviction saying the owner (or a relative) is moving in.  We didn't think it'd happen to us. But it did. 

Your landlord is incentivized to evict you to rent on Airbnb:

If the Airbnb law passes as-is, after your eviction, your landlord can rent your unit for:

- Unlimited days if s/he lives in the unit, and make $100,000/year.

- 90 days if s/he doesn’t live in the unit, and make at least $45,000/90 days for 3-bedroom unit at $500/night.  That's a lot more than what some long-term tenants pay a year now for a 3-bed unit ($30,000/year). 

So this petition proposes to help you enforce the current law: owner move in evicted units are not allowed to be rented for three years.  Proposal: As soon as your landlord files a no-fault eviction notice with the SF Rent Board, you can send it to all the rental sites.  Within a week, those sites must email you to confirm your unit is prohibited from their site for three years. 

2. You probably won’t have time or money to catch your landlord:

You’d have to monitor your old unit by:

- Hiring a private investigator.

- Tracking all the rental sites.  But your landlord can give a fake address.

So this petition proposes that the registry of short-term rental addresses:

- Be public online.

- Allow you to get email notifications for units you’re monitoring.

- Make the landlord list the unit's real address on short-term rental sites.

3. You’d have to subpoena Airbnb to learn how many days your unit was rented:

That's what Airbnb said.   

So this petition proposes that short-term rental sites must list this info in the registry described above for past and future rentals.

4. Even if you catch your landlord renting your unit, nothing will likely happen under the Airbnb law:

The Planning Department won’t have money for new staff.  Plus, they have a bad record in going after violators.

The Airbnb law will fine landlords after 90 days at $416 the first day, then $1,000/day after.

This petition proposes that landlords pay the current $1,000 fine/day if your landlord even rents your old unit for a day.

On Tuesday, 10/7, 2pm, decisionmakers might vote.  Tell them what you really think at SF City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Rm. 250.

Please sign this petition and share our funny posts on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr!