The scene is set. You’ve arrived in Miami to find sunny skies, avoided the pitfalls of the airport and make your way to a friendly taxi driver who whisks you to the address on your phone. Upon arrival at your Airbnb, everything is better than expected and the neighbourhood is nicer than hoped. For once, it seems everything is going your way, until you hear the knock.
“City of Miami, open the door”.
This weekend the New York Times profiled Miami’s prolific crackdown on Airbnb’s, which sees guests uprooted in the middle of the night by city code enforcement teams, which might as well be referred to as the Airbnb Police. This may seem extreme, but Miami says its residents have seen enough and rules (fair, or not) are the rules. How kicking someone who isn’t personally breaking any rules out of a safe environment in the middle of the night helps, we couldn’t tell you…
Whether this style of enforcement is a fear tactic designed to dissuade potential Airbnb renters and protect well greased local hotel magnates, or a legitimate means of enforcing an important policy is for each person to decide. One thing is for certain: Ii you are Airbnb’ing in Miami, guests need to be selective of where, otherwise they may find themselves dislodged in the middle of the night. If it looks like strong arm tactics and feels like strong arm tactics, it may very well be strong arm tactics…
The beauties of Airbnb are easy to find. For starters, entrepreneurs can turn nights away from home into cash by renting out their living space. For a road warrior, or avid traveller, this is an incredible way to share a favorite locale with the world, while helping to offset living costs. For travellers, the Airbnb experience provides the thrill of discovering unique or indigenous neighbourhoods and more competitive pricing. In its best essence, Airbnb is people helping people travel.
Each city around the world has taken its own steps and measures to find a balance, with cities like Tokyo allowing Airbnb to continue most fairly, with simply registration, minor fee requirements and a maximum on the number of days a place can be rented, to prevent abuse. Los Angeles is going further, allowing a maximum number of Airbnb units per person, with strict maximums on the number of dates a property can be rented with rules kicking in this July. Hong Kong has done its best to ban Airbnb entirely.
An apartment building meant for locals, which is effectively converted into an Airbnb factory is a problem for everyone, and not just from a safety perspective. It’s a hotel in everything but name, and mandatory living standards.
More and more often, the line between an entrepreneur renting out a sole, or second living space, and an opaque housing conglomerate running 1,000 Airbnb rentals is being blurred, which makes it hard to distinguish an Airbnb from a hotel. Some Airbnb operators are said to bring in more than $40,000 a day, and New York recently cracked down on a multi million dollar business, which was alleged to be fraudulently renting apartments, which it would then illegally profit from as Airbnbs.
Sure, a landlord can put a clause in the lease that apartments are not for sub listing, but enforcing or policing this is virtually impossible. It’s hard to understand why Miami chooses to pursue this line of enforcement, rather than those hosts who are knowingly breaking local laws or at the very least, local guidelines. This style of punishment is ridiculous.
When this happens, it ruins local housing prices, and often neighbourhoods with them. It’s said that an Airbnb operator can turn a profit with two weeks of occupancy or less, thus driving local housing prices through the roof while diminishing quality of life for those in the immediate area. In cities like Barcelona, it’s killed entire neighbourhoods. Miami is clearly looking to protect something with its new enforcement ramp up, but whether it strikes the correct balance is yet to be seen.
This is excellent news. The criminal Airbnb operators should time in jail and massive fines.
So are we talking Miami or Miami Beach? Because the New York Times mentions Miami Beach but you mention Miami.
I’ve stayed in Airbnb’s all over the world, and recently in Miami. I can definitely understand someone owning a condo and not wanting to live next to or near a unit that Airbnb’s it’s apartment. Not sure if a balance can be striked honestly. We are having the same war here in NYC. Love the concept of Airbnb, but it pisses some people off and rubs others the wrong way. Here’s to hoping that Airbnb remains a functional part of everyday traveling, much like Uber.
The problem is that Airbnb is being shortsighted, greedy or capitalistic. Phrase it how you like. They’re unwilling to regulate themselves, which means that eventually someone else will regulate them. This is exactly what’s starting to happen.
I am thrilled to finally hear this! I own a condo on Miami Beach in the South of Fifth area and my neighborhood is nearly unrecognizable from just six years ago when I bought it. AirBnB is criminal! They want to go around all rules and regulations and force their way into everywhere for greed. And if the only problem were people playing music too loud! I really hope Miami and Miami Beach set the new standard in keeping Air BnB out!