Comments for Protect Vacation Rentals

Comment on New Bill Introduced To Regulate New York City Vacation Rentals (as Opposed to Banning them) by Peter

Peter — Fri, 18 May 2012 21:49:31 +0000

That is not true. Many long term tenants are huge problems for neighbors. In fact the evidence shows this is the case. If a short term tenant is renting in a desirable location as a tourist they will pay more than a full time renter., That is true. But this means they are responsible, successful individuals willing to pay a premium for clean,well located apartments. This type of tenant is rarely a problem and generally very sensitive and mindful of others in the building. It is the house or facility that is a hostel or designed specifically to cram people into unsafe or unsanitary units that causes problems for others in the building.

THIS IS WHY THE LAW NEEDS TO BE MODIFIED AND NOT RESTRICT THE BUSINESS OWNER WHO HAS A BIG INVESTMENT IN PROVIDING SAFE, CLEAN AND HIGHLY DESIRABLE UNITS FOR TOURISTS SHORT TERM.

The business owner or landlord welcomes regulation and is will to pay their share of taxes and an annual fee to cover the cost of regulation.

The person who made the comment that only the owner benefits is way off the mark. This means revenue of the city and because of regulation the virtual elimination of the underground hostels that are causing the problem. Also a viable alternative for those tourists seeking a hotel alternative.

The Golden Bill does incorporate this and actually protects all parties.

Comment on News from the New York State Senate: The Golden Bill Was Amended On May 7, 2012 by peter gilmore

peter gilmore — Fri, 18 May 2012 01:32:48 +0000

I live in hull ma and i was fined 1700 by the town of hull for renting short term my condos which are ocean view nice units , does anyone know about ma state laws?
peter g

Comment on News from the New York State Senate: The Golden Bill Was Amended On May 7, 2012 by Mark

Mark — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:22:36 +0000

This is absolutely a great bill. Owners of Free Market properties should have the right to rent units on a short term basis, provided that they pay taxes and the building is safe. With real estate taxes as high as they are, some owners may only be able to get by through this type of rental.

Comment on The Assembly Committee on Housing To Evaluate The Implementation Of The Vacation Rental Ban in New York City by MSG

MSG — Wed, 16 May 2012 04:09:05 +0000

I have a feeling that unless we all unite and take the city to civil court for infringement on your right by entering your apartment while you are not there and going as far as pushing people out of the way to come in and question your guests, I think we will loose to the city and their bullying techniques. It is outrageous. Why can Chicago regulate the vacation rental industry but NYC BS’s and claims that the reason why they are doing this is because of safety reasons!!

Comment on The Assembly Committee on Housing To Evaluate The Implementation Of The Vacation Rental Ban in New York City by Bruce

Bruce — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:24:25 +0000

I attended the meeting and was disappointed to see the clear relationship between lawmakers and the hotel association. I had a disgusted chuckle at the lawmakers’ affordable housing platform that was repeated constantly in this town where $20Million to $88Million apartments are sold on a weekly basis. I understand why a politician would take this position. Who is going to be against the noble goal of affordable housing? Perhaps politicians like Rosenthal and Gottfried should take on the goal of creating more stables in Central Park for Unicorns and special building requirements for Leprechauns?

Next up was the hotel association which spoke about the hazards tourists face when they stay in unsafe accommodations that lack the safety features their hotels spend millions to build and, according to them, are not featured in an apartment. Included are: smoke detectors (my apartment has them), sprinklers (my apartment has them since it was built recently), clearly labeled exit signs (my apartment has them) and what to do in case of a fire instructions (my apartment has them too. The most absurd thing that was stated by the CEO of the hotel association (John Fitzpatrick) WAS THAT HOTEL ASSOCIATION OF NYC’S POSITION AGAINST ILLEGAL HOTELS WAS NOT ABOUT COMPETITION. Really? Then why are you here today?

Currently the city’s major revenue areas are tourism and Film/TV production. Wall Street revenue is down and so are income taxes. Listen up NYC, if you want more revenue, regulate the vacation rental sector. There’s a lot to be made here!

Comment on The Assembly Committee on Housing To Evaluate The Implementation Of The Vacation Rental Ban in New York City by Mick

Mick — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:50:41 +0000

I have sent email to all the state gov reps. All owners should. Tell them you support Golden’s amendment (see home page here) to the onerous bill.

Comment on The Assembly Committee on Housing To Evaluate The Implementation Of The Vacation Rental Ban in New York City by m s g

m s g — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 21:06:39 +0000

I was there and many of the assembly members were simply rude, indifferent and even hostile and uncivilized specially this Tino guy from Brooklyn. I can even say that he was almost an ass when it came to testimonies from BB owners and the head of the newly formed group StayNYC and other people making their voice be heard from AirBnB and others. The assembly memebrs didn’t even care to LISTEN simply. It’s unbelievable. Are we in a democracy were you atleast have the right to have your voice be heard or the majority can just screw the minority in regards to opinions.
I left really outraged and disappointed. Through out the most of the hearing which I didn’t stay till the end, most talk was about how to protect homeless and low income!!!! what does this have to do with someone being able to rent his or her apartment or an owner of a 3 or 4 apartments choosing not to rent to long term for whatever reason and prefer to rent to short term. This Tino guy kept mentioning jobs and union organizations and the hotel industry!!!!

Comment on The Assembly Committee on Housing To Evaluate The Implementation Of The Vacation Rental Ban in New York City by Protect Vacation Rentals

Protect Vacation Rentals — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 22:10:48 +0000

By all means, you should inform as many people as possible about this public hearing. We must all stand united!

Comment on The Assembly Committee on Housing To Evaluate The Implementation Of The Vacation Rental Ban in New York City by mb

mb — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:33:28 +0000

you have to send this to every airbnb usuer in nyc

Comment on Proposed Regulation for Short-Term Rentals in NYC: A Gleam of Hope for Tourists and Small Businesses? by Mick

Mick — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:32:57 +0000

This sounds like positive news for multi-family owners, who wish to use their apartments as vacation rentals, but it is still not certain that this bill will even come to a vote.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

I know you care about your business and your right to make optimal use of your property. So make your voice heard by writing to NY State Senators (Listed Below) and expressing your support for this amendment S4263A-2011 Vacation rental Proposal sponsored by Senator Golden. I have included a list of state senators who heard the recent amendment and voted on its contents.

GO to http://protect-vacation-rentals.com/ and educate yourself about this issue.

Yours in solidarity,

A Brooklyn Homeowner

Here’s the letter I sent:

Dear Senator,

As a NYC homeowner of a multi-family property I am writing to encourage you to support the amendment brought forth by Senator Golden, Bill S4263A-2011 seeks to narrow the scope of the recent Short-Term Rental Ban in New York City. The May 2011 law passed by Governor Patterson S6873B-2009 has ensnared good landlords in its wide-ranging prohibition without exception for the legal, safe apartments they own and operate. It is appalling that multi-family homeowners have lost the right to determine how they rent the legal apartments in their own homes, by disallowing them to rent to NYC tourists for shorter stays.

Tourists who use short-term vacation rentals do so because they refuse to pay exorbitant hotel prices. As such, the city is now losing sales tax revenue from these tourists. Further, because vacation rentals are a more economical option to hotels in NYC, this sub-set of tourists are able to stay longer in NYC to attend more shows, do more shopping and use more cabs and mass transit options.

Thank-you for your thoughtful consideration of this issue. I hope you will choose to help and support local homeowners who deserve the right to determine how to rent their legal, safe apartments.

Yours Sincerely,

A cautionary tale from Protect Vacation Rentals website:

I received a violation over the summer for “occupancy contrary to that allowed by C of O – 2-family dwelling converted to transient use”

This was for a 2-family house in Queens, based on a neighbor complaint and the inspector speaking to the tenant who indicated “he is only here for a visit of a few weeks or months” and
the inspector also claimed he saw a person arriving with luggage. The inspector admitted that there
was nothing illegal about the house in and of itself, but that the violation was based entirely on
that he believed it was being rented out on a short-term basis for a few days or weeks at a time, and that this is illegal in a 2-family house, being contrary to the C of O.

In the first place, I thought I was allowed to rent a 2-family house out short term, but in any case at the hearing I presented a lease for 6 weeks along with the argument that since the lease was for over 30 days, it could not legally even be considered transient use in the first place and the case should be dismissed…

However, I was found guilty, and now I wonder if the city can just decide whatever it wants, irrespective of the law?

I plan to appeal since it seems to me the decision was improper.

Contact info
Gov. Cuomo
http://www.governor.ny.gov

(518) 474-8390
The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224

NY State SENATORS

AYES:
golden@nysenate.gov
skelos@nysenate.gov
alesi@senate.state.ny.us
Farley@nysenate.gov
hannon@nysenate.gov
ojohnson@nysenate.gov
larkin@senate.state.ny.us
senator@senatorlibous.com
marcelli@senate.state.ny.us
maziarz@nysenate.gov
nozzolio@nysenate.gov
seward@nysenate.gov
sampson@senate.state.ny.us
dilan@nysenate.gov
montgome@senate.state.ny.us
lavalle@nysenate.gov
saland@nysenate.gov
breslin@senate.state.ny.us
parker@senate.state.ny.us
perkins@senate.state.ny.us
masmith@senate.state.ny.us

duane@nysenate.gov
hassellt@senate.state.ny.us
lkrueger@senate.state.ny.us
scousins@senate.state.ny.us

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
PHONE 311 (or 212-NEW-YORK outside NYC)
FAX (212) 312-0700
E-MAIL:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html

FULL CONTACT Info
AYES:
Martin Golden
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 409, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2730

Dean G Skelos

Albany Office
Legislative Office Building, Room 909
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-3171
skelos@nysenate.gov

James S Alesi
Albany Office
Room 512, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2015
Fax: (518) 426-6968
alesi@senate.state.ny.us

Hugh T Farley
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 711, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2181
Fax: (518) 455-2271
Farley@nysenate.gov

Kemp Hannon
Albany Office
The Capitol Room 420
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: 518-455-2200
hannon@nysenate.gov

Owen H Johnson
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 913 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-3411
ojohnson@nysenate.gov

William J Larkin
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 502, Senate Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2770
larkin@senate.state.ny.us

Tom Libous
Albany Office
429 Capitol
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2677
senator@senatorlibous.com

Carl L Marcellino
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 811, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2390
marcelli@senate.state.ny.us

George T Maziarz
Albany Office
Room 708, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2024
maziarz@nysenate.gov

Michael F Nozzollio
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 412, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2366
nozzolio@nysenate.gov

James L Seward
Albany Office
172 State Street Room 430, Capital
Albany, NY 12247
United States
seward@nysenate.gov
Phone: 518) 455-3131

John L Sampson
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 907, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2788
Fax: (518) 426-6806
sampson@senate.state.ny.us

Martin Malave Dilan
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 903, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2177
Fax: (518) 426-6947
dilan@nysenate.gov

Velmanette Montgomery
Albany Office
944 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-3451
montgome@senate.state.ny.us
Fax: (518) 426-6854

Kenneth P Lavalle
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 806, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-3121
lavalle@nysenate.gov

Stephen M Saland
Albany Office
State Street Room 504 – Capitol
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: 518-455-2411
saland@nysenate.gov

Neil D Breslin
Albany Office
172 State Street Room 413, Capitol
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2225
breslin@senate.state.ny.us

Kevin S Parker
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 604, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2580
Fax: (518) 426-6843
parker@senate.state.ny.us

Bill Perkins
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 517, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: 518-455-2441
Fax: 518-426-6809
perkins@senate.state.ny.us

Malcolm A Smith
Albany Office
181 State Street Room 808, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2701
Fax: (518) 455-2816
masmith@senate.state.ny.us

NAYS:

Tom Duane
Room 711B
Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
(518) 455-2451 Fax: (518) 426-6846
duane@nysenate.gov

Ruth Hassell-Thompson
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 707 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2061
Fax: (518) 426-6998
hassellt@senate.state.ny.us

Liz Krueger
Albany Office
172 State Street Room 905 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2297
Fax: (518) 426-6874
lkrueger@senate.state.ny.us

Andrea Stewart-Cousins
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 615, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2585
scousins@senate.state.ny.us
Fax: (518) 426-6811

Ayes (14): Skelos, Alesi, Farley, Hannon, Johnson, Larkin, Libous, Marcellino, Maziarz, Nozzolio, Seward, Sampson, Dilan, Montgomery
Ayes W/R (6): LaValle, Saland, Breslin, Parker, Perkins, Smith
Nays (4): Duane, Hassell-Thompson, Krueger, Stewart-Cousins

Bill S4263A-2011 Vacation rental proposal