Jersey City Voters Pass Limits On Airbnb, Short-Term Rentals

Jersey City Voters Pass Limits On Airbnb, Short-Term Rentals

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Voters in a New Jersey city that’s a train stop away from tourist-packed Manhattan have approved restrictions on Airbnb and other short-term rental companies.

Jersey City lawmakers passed the restrictions in June but short-term rental advocates gathered enough signatures to force a referendum.

Jersey City has become increasingly popular with tourists seeking an alternative to pricey New York lodging.

That’s led to complaints about absentee owners turning apartment buildings into de facto hotels.

Short-term renters said the Airbnb bonanza helped them defray high housing costs by bringing in guests.

The regulations limit how often landlords can rent properties if they don’t live on site.

They also forbid short-term rentals in buildings with more than four units if the owner isn’t present and prohibit renters from serving as hosts.

Christopher Nulty, spokesperson for Airbnb, released the following statement Tuesday evening:

“From the start of this campaign, we knew this was going to be one of the toughest fights we’ve faced, with the big New York hotel industry determined to fight home sharing, but we had an obligation to stand up for our community.

“Cities from Buffalo to San Francisco, and Boston to Seattle have managed to pass comprehensive short-term rental regulations without punishing tenants or creating red tape and onerous registration systems. It’s unfortunate to see the hotel-backed special interests run a campaign that moves Jersey City in a different direction. There are Airbnb listings in over 100,000 cities around the world and we will continue to do all we can to support hosts.”

(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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November 06, 2019 at 08:45AM