• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

The pig in the python: Baby Boomers are strangling the economy they built by refusing to move or retire

2

Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year

3

Uber CEO says rideshare 'freed up' his son from having to get a driver’s license—and he's one of many Gen Zers who aren’t willing to drive

1

The pig in the python: Baby Boomers are strangling the economy they built by refusing to move or retire

2

Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year

3

Uber CEO says rideshare 'freed up' his son from having to get a driver’s license—and he's one of many Gen Zers who aren’t willing to drive
Tech40 Under 40

Airbnb Hits Back at Hotel CEO’s Comments Over New York Home-Sharing Law

By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 28, 2016, 5:27 PM ET
Berlin will from Sunday, May 1, 2016, restrict private property rentals through Airbnb and similar online platforms, threatening hefty fines in a controversial move meant to keep housing affordable for locals. / AFP / John MACDOUGALL        (Photo credit should read JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images)
Berlin will from Sunday, May 1, 2016, restrict private property rentals through Airbnb and similar online platforms, threatening hefty fines in a controversial move meant to keep housing affordable for locals. / AFP / John MACDOUGALL (Photo credit should read JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images)Photograph by JOHN MACDOUGALL AFP/Getty Images

A recently signed bill in New York that imposes steep fines for advertising illegal short-term rentals is pitting Airbnb against a company that operates four hotels in New York City.

Last week, LaSalle Hotel Properties CEO Michael Barnello told investors that the law would be “a big boost in the arm for the business, certainly in terms of the pricing” if signed into law, according to transcript of the call. A week later, the company’s CFO, Kenneth Fuller, clarified the company’s position, stating that “it’s not about price or competition, it’s about a level playing field. It’s about the fact that these have been illegal hotels, essentially,” he told New York City-centric blog Gothamist on Thursday.

Now, in a letter sent on friday to LaSalle, Airbnb head of global policy Chris Lehane asks Barnello several pointed questions about his and the company’s stance on the matter, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Fortune.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

“What are you current policies as they relate to compression pricing, commonly referred to as price-gouging?” Lehane asks, along with whether Barnello knowingly mislead investors and analysts when he said the new law would boost his company’s business pricing strategy.

He adds: “If you agree with your chief Financial Officer and now believe that the New York law is ‘not about price or competition,’ will you unequivocally pledge to ban any and all price-gouging at your hotels?”

The recently passed law imposes fines of up to $7,500 for advertising short-term rentals that don’t comply with New York City’s regulations, which ban rentals of certain types of housing for less than 30 days without the host being present.

In his letter, Lehane also asks Barnello what percentage of the revenue his company earns from its New York City hotels is routed back to its headquarters in Maryland, in reference to Airbnb’s argument that the money its hosts earn help their local community. Airbnb takes a 3% cut from host earnings.

Lehane’s letter then addresses Barnello’s comments praising the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s regulatory efforts around short-term rentals, which Airbnb characterizes as opposing home-sharing, for obvious business reasons. Given Fuller’s comment that his company supports the rights of property owners to occasionally rent their homes for extra money, Lehane probes Barnello on whether he plans to ask the AHLA to modify its position on home-sharing or resign from the organization if it doesn’t, and how much money his company has contributed to the AHLA.

“If the big hotel industry really cares about middle class consumers, they’ll immediately and publicly answer these questions,” a company spokesman told Fortune.

Reached by phone, Fuller told Fortune that he isn’t yet aware of Airbnb’s letter to Barnello, but emphasized that Barnello was speaking hypothetically as the bill hadn’t yet been signed by Gov. Cuomo. And until the new law is enforced, LaSalle won’t know the true impact it will have on its business, he added.

It should be noted that following the bill’s signing into law, Airbnb said that most of its listings in New York City comply with regulations, so the impact will likely be minimal.

Fuller also said that the new law is “common sense” and that Airbnb could have avoided it by removing home listings that don’t comply with New York City’s regulations. This is something Airbnb has been largely resistant to do in general, though it did quietly remove about 1,500 listings last fall before it published data on its activity, and recently said it will begin to automatically bar hosts from listing more than one property in an effort to curb commercial listings. It has a similar policy in San Francisco.

For more on Airbnb, watch this Fortune video:

From the beginning, Airbnb has characterized the bill in New York as stemming from “backroom deals” between state legislators and the hotel industry. The company proposed to New York legislators policy and product changes it says would both address concerns around illegal rentals while allowing the company to operate, though they seemingly did nothing prevent Gov. Cuomo from signing the bill into law.

However, proponents of the law argue that it simply enforces existing regulations on short-term rentals, and not an attempt to keep the middle class from earning additional income.

Last Friday, Airbnb filed a lawsuit against Mayor de Blasio, Attorney General Eric Shneiderman, and the city of New York over the new law. In June, the company filed a similar lawsuit against its hometown of San Francisco after its Board of Supervisors passed new rules for fining websites that advertise illegal short-term rentals.

 

About the Author
By Kia Kokalitcheva
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

le
AIReligion
Pope Leo called AI an ‘instrument of domination, exclusion and death.’ Anthropic was in the room
By Nicole Winfield, Kaitlyn Huamani, Paolo Santalucia and The Associated PressMay 25, 2026
3 hours ago
r
EuropeRussia
A country of 2.9 million people on Russia’s border just had 600,000 national records stolen
By The Associated PressMay 25, 2026
4 hours ago
g
EnvironmentLaw
You can’t repair your tractor because Hollywood was terrified of the VCR
By Oana Godeanu-Kenworthy and The ConversationMay 25, 2026
5 hours ago
Antonio Gracias, founder, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of Valor Equity Partners
InvestingSpaceX
Elon Musk’s best friend could make more than $100 billion from SpaceX’s IPO. His firm is also owed billions by SpaceX
By Eva RoytburgMay 25, 2026
8 hours ago
Huawei touts chip breakthrough to shorten gap with TSMC
AsiaChina
Huawei touts chip breakthrough to shorten gap with TSMC
By BloombergMay 25, 2026
8 hours ago
mollick
Economydisruption
‘Nobody knows anything’ and ‘this time is different’: the phrases that define — and haunt — the AI economy
By Nick LichtenbergMay 25, 2026
8 hours ago

Most Popular

The pig in the python: Baby Boomers are strangling the economy they built by refusing to move or retire
Economy
The pig in the python: Baby Boomers are strangling the economy they built by refusing to move or retire
By Nick LichtenbergMay 25, 2026
12 hours ago
Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year
Success
Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year
By Preston ForeMay 21, 2026
4 days ago
Uber CEO says rideshare 'freed up' his son from having to get a driver’s license—and he's one of many Gen Zers who aren’t willing to drive
Lifestyle
Uber CEO says rideshare 'freed up' his son from having to get a driver’s license—and he's one of many Gen Zers who aren’t willing to drive
By Sasha RogelbergMay 24, 2026
1 day ago
Elon Musk's best friend could make more than $100 billion from SpaceX's IPO. His firm is also owed billions by SpaceX
Investing
Elon Musk's best friend could make more than $100 billion from SpaceX's IPO. His firm is also owed billions by SpaceX
By Eva RoytburgMay 25, 2026
8 hours ago
This 39-year-old quit his lineman job during the pandemic and built a $50 million company in his backyard
Success
This 39-year-old quit his lineman job during the pandemic and built a $50 million company in his backyard
By Nick LichtenbergMay 23, 2026
2 days ago
Inside the 'stealth wealth' playbook: How Silicon Valley's elite buy multimillion-dollar mansions without leaving a paper trail
Real Estate
Inside the 'stealth wealth' playbook: How Silicon Valley's elite buy multimillion-dollar mansions without leaving a paper trail
By Sydney LakeMay 24, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.