Airbnb seeks end of lawsuit
Casey Seiler
Albany
The attorney general's office defended its subpoena Tuesday seeking data from New York state "hosts" who offer their properties for rent on the popular site Airbnb.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's investigation seeks to learn if Airbnb's hosts are paying all applicable state and local taxes on the services they offer to their renters. It also seeks to assess whether they're violating state Multiple Dwelling Law, which includes bans on rentals of less than 30 days unless the owner remains on the premises. Violating this provision is a misdemeanor.
The San Francisco-based company is seeking to quash the subpoena as an overbroad invasion of its hosts' privacy.
Issued in October, the subpoena seeks three years of information, including each host's name, address, user ID on the site and addresses of all their rental units, plus the date, durations and rents charged through Airbnb transactions, and the method of payment for each.
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Airbnb-seeks-end-of-lawsuit-5422699.php