San Francisco v. AirBnB

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-cracks-down-on-Airbnb-rentals-5381237.php#photo-6130485

San Francisco is beginning to evict renters that are using Airbnb to rent out spots on their sofas. There is an ordinance that clearly distinguishes apartments from hotels. Because Airbnb allows strangers to rent space in apartments, it turns apartments into pseudo-hotels. This is the perfect example of bureaucracy getting in the way of entrepreneurial ventures. People use this site for supplemental income to offset the absurdly high rent prices in San Francisco. It will be interesting to see how other cities react to this and if this will affect other websites such as couch surfing.

One thought on “San Francisco v. AirBnB

  1. Fascinating. I haven’t done much looking into Airbnb. I wonder what the liability issues are? (Do apartment dwellers feel less safe is they know that others in their building are renting out their sofas?)