San Francisco fines 2 landlords $2.25 million for illegal AirBnB rentals

Regulations/Tax Issues
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"San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera is laying down the law — literally. Today, Herrera’s office announced a $2.25 million settlement with two property owners in the city. The landlords, Darren and Valerie Lee, ran “an illicit hotel chain during San Francisco’s housing crisis rather than lawfully renting the units to residential tenants,” Herrera’s office wrote in a press release.

As part of today’s settlement, the Lees are not allowed to rent out any of their units as short-term rentals until at least May 2025. The property owners must also pay the city $2.25 million to cover the costs of the investigation and other penalties."

They failed to comply with court orders in a previous case.

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Faaar Out! I hope this one goes viral…for all those illegal, unregistered places that need a wake up call.

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And they always think they can get away with it… :slight_smile:

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Good deal! Glad to see any “scumbag slum landlord” get a comeuppance!

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Did you see these details – the Lees staged their STR apartments for inspectors in an attempt to make them look lived in and occupied by long-term tenants. However, they placed the exact same Costco food items and details (damp towel hanging sloppily in bathroom) throughout each unit.

They must have given their staff an identical “to do” list in how to clutter their Airbnbs. Hilarious! (and amazing how detail oriented their staff were…)

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So it’s only Airbnb gets the hit. What about other websites like VRBO, booking.com, Flippkey, and many others who serve as a platform for short term rentals. Even booking.com started listing " room in private home".

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