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The company does not share its list of local rentals with the city, Ngo said.Īirbnb has previously fought hard against local regulation of its business, including suing the city of San Francisco - where the company is headquartered - over a rule to fine short-term rental platforms for unregistered listings. It’s not even clear from Airbnb’s site how many listings it has in the Sunnyvale area - depending on search terms, anywhere from 30 to 300 homes show up. It also does not perform spot checks on registered rentals because “it’s not practical” given staffing constraints, Ngo said. Without comparing listings on rental platforms with the city’s list of registered homes, the city has no way of knowing how many rentals may be operating without permits. “It’s a systematic failure at all levels,” said Murali Srinivasan, 60, president of the adjacent Ortega Park Neighborhood Association who lives within walking distance from the shooting. In most of those cases, Ngo said, the city sent a letter asking the homeowner to comply with the ordinance.īut residents believe the city could do more. Since 2016, the city has investigated nearly 100 homes as potential illegal short-term rentals after neighbors complained about noise or cars constantly coming and going.
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“What recently happened in the city of Sunnyvale highlights the issues most cities are facing - you have somebody operating their home as a short-term rental, they have it on a platform, but they’re not registered with the city - and unfortunately the homicide occurs and we’re made aware of the situation,” Ngo said. Airbnb has said the party was thrown without the host’s consent. The house on Navarro Drive, where shots broke out Aug. Seventy-six properties are registered with the city, Ngo said. But the ordinance is not proactively enforced, and rentals on the Airbnb platform are not regularly cross-checked with the city’s list of registered homes, Sunnyvale Director of Public Safety Phan Ngo said. In addition, bookings are limited to four guests, and hosts are required to be on-site at rentals. Like many other cities, Sunnyvale requires Airbnb hosts to register with the city planning department and pay a yearly tax. Who enforces them and where do those boundaries lie?” Yes, the city and homeowners have the responsibility.
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“Where is the responsibility here?” said Brian Aday, a professor with San Francisco State University’s hospitality and tourism management department. But it also raises questions about whether any of the key players is doing enough to stop house parties before they occur - or turn deadly. The apparent ease with which the party occurred underscores the challenges cities and home rental companies face in trying to regulate short-term rentals. The incident - which comes less than two years after a mass shooting killed five young people at an Orinda Airbnb on Halloween - joins a growing list of shootings at short-term rentals nationwide. And instead of the maximum four adults allowed under Sunnyvale’s short-term rental rules, at least 150 people showed up for a night billed on Instagram as “Turn Up Pt. The single-story home in quiet Raynor Park wasn’t registered with the city.
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SUNNYVALE - When hundreds of teenagers descended upon a Sunnyvale home where 18-year-old Elias Elhania was shot and killed last week, the event violated just about every rule the city has for short-term rentals. Latest Airbnb shooting exposes challenges in regulating 'party houses' Close Menu