Airbnb trying to slam door on Hub’s new regs

Lawyers for home-share juggernaut Airbnb are raising the roof to block Boston from enforcing “heavyhanded” regulations coming to the online platform’s doorstep next year.

“Airbnb believes that home-sharing may be lawfully regulated, and it has worked with dozens of cities to develop the tools they need to do so without violating federal or state law. Boston’s heavy-handed approach, however, crosses several clear legal lines and must be invalidated,” Airbnb’s attorneys argue in a lawsuit filed against the city yesterday in U.S. District Court.

The court immediately issued a summons to city officials, notifying them of the civil action.

The city’s short-term rental ordinance takes effect Jan. 1.

Airbnb wants Judge Leo T. Sorokin to preliminarily and permanently enjoin the city from enforcing a $300per-day fine the ordinance threatens to impose on anyone advertising a shortterm rental deemed ineligible by the city for reasons such as having been designated a public-nuisance property.

Airbnb further objects to booking agents being forced to help the city police listings for violators, and to sharing detailed data about listings and their use. A booking agent is anyone who facilitates reservations or collects rent on behalf of a property owner.

The city considers shortterm rentals residences booked for less than 28 days for a fee.

A spokesperson for the city did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“This is a case about a city trying to conscript homesharing platforms into enforcing regulations on the city’s behalf, in a manner that would thwart both federal and Massachusetts law,” the suit reads.

It continues, “Hosts and guests alone, not Airbnb, decide whether and on what terms to enter into transactions . ... As a general matter, Airbnb does not review the hundreds of thousands of (automated) third-party listings before the listings appear on Airbnb’s marketplace.”

Airbnb describes its users as “everyday people,” noting there are currently 6,300 rental listings in Boston from which hosts earn on average an extra $8,600 a year in income.

Airbnb fears provisions of the city ordinance will “injure the significant business goodwill that Airbnb has generated from the hosts and guests who have come to rely on its platform.”