New York City is amping up its battle against Airbnb abusers.
To fight back against residents who illegally turn their apartments into hotels, the Big Apple has doubled the budget of investigators who regulate illegal home conversions.
The Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, the little-known office charged with investigating quality-of-life issues, including illegal apartment conversions, had its budget doubled to $2.8 million on July 1.
The money will allow the staff to expand to 29 from 12.
In addition, the OSE will transform into an active investigative unit from one that merely reacted to complaints.
“OSE will no longer be a reactive group but one that will go out and shut down the illegal hotels,” said Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal (D-Upper West Side), who pushed for the extra funding.
OSE has also been rudderless — without a permanent director — for more than a year. It is currently searching for one.
Many of the new hires will investigate illegal-hotel complaints and bring action against the perpetrators.
While Airbnb is the largest online home-sharing company in the country, investigators are looking for abuses on any such service.
Landlords in rent-controlled buildings have been a particular thorn in the city’s side — at times pressuring residents to leave so they can profit from turning the newly vacant space into illegal hotel rooms for short-term rentals.
Last fiscal year, OSE received 1,150 complaints from New Yorkers about having to share their apartment buildings with a constant parade of tourists.
A total of 886 violations were issued.
But the actual number of illegal rentals in the city is “in the tens of thousands,” Rosenthal said, adding, “the disconnect is so wide between a complaint-driven system and what is really happening.”
In one current Airbnb rental, “Davis” is advertising renting out bedrooms in his West Village apartment for $845 a week apiece.
“Davis” explains that he’ll be “traveling a lot over the next few months” and that “there is a good chance that there will be other renters in the other bedroom during the same time.”
“If you are uncomfortable sharing a bathroom or common space with other travelers on Airbnb,” he advises, “then this might not be the best accommodation for you.”
Under state law, it’s illegal to rent out an apartment for less than 30 days unless the primary resident is there.
As of June 1, there were about 15,500 illegal Airbnb hotel listings in the city — up 1.4 percent from a month earlier, according to insideairbnb.com, an independent website that tracks the San Francisco-based company’s listings.
“The numbers appear to be plateauing at the 15,500 to 16,000 range with constant churn and no indication that the most active hosts are being removed from the site due to enforcement,” said Murray Cox, who runs the insideairbnb site.
Airbnb says insideairbnb uses “inaccurate” and “misleading” information.