Airbnb has reached an agreement to provide “anonymized” data to the New York Attorney General.  Per the agreement (embedded below), details to be provided by Airbnb include the property addresses of New York listings, with specific apartment numbers omitted, along with details of income generated from those listings.  Upon request, Airbnb must also provide the New York Attorney General with the name, contact information, and taxpayer identification associated with individual listings.  The agreement also requires Airbnb to provide certain legal disclosures to new host listings located in New York.  Airbnb’s troubles in New York continue, as its own hosts could eventually pursue litigation against the share economy company.

More About The Agreement With New York Attorney General

The agreement with the New York Attorney General’s Office sets a deadline of 51 days for Airbnb to provide the anonymized data.  Within 21 days, data must begin being delivered.  All data must be provided by 30 days thereafter.  The New York Attorney General’s Office then has the next year to request from Airbnb additional details about specific listings.  Creating new host listings in New York on Airbnb now also requires clicking through certain legal disclosures.  Those legal disclosures include details about the New York State Multiple Dwelling Law, zoning codes, taxes, rent regulation, business licensing, and other rules.

Investigation And Legal Action Against Airbnb Hosts Is Likely

Airbnb recently won a court ruling that prevented Airbnb from providing details about New York hosts.  On its Public Policy Blog, Airbnb says its decision to cooperate was based on that judge’s indication “that he would accept a new, narrower subpoena and require Airbnb to turn over personal information about hosts.”  This agreement to provide data does not prevent any legal action against any host or even Airbnb itself.  The legal disclosures now being provided to hosts could’ve been provided by Airbnb as far back as 2010 when New York’s Multiple Dwelling Law was enacted.  The New York Attorney General’s Office clearly intends to pursue legal action against certain Airbnb hosts.  When that happens, hosts themselves could eventually go after Airbnb in court for various claims, including deceptive trade, for getting them in this mess.

Airbnb Agreement Regarding Compliance With Subpoena