Airbnb CEO defends legality of service after city crackdown: VIDEO

Despite legislation passed by the city last year outlawing hotel uses in residential buildings, the hospitality website Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky told CBS News that his company is not trying to bend the rules; rather it is empowering homeowners and renters.

“We’re in 30,000 cities, hundreds of thousands of neighborhoods. They all have different rules. At the end of the day, we want to empower people to be able to rent out their space. We ask them to learn about their local rules and regulations, and we want to cooperate with cities,” Chesky said. “Ultimately, at the end of the day, it’s about educating our community about what the rules are, and then educating cities about who we are, what we’re doing.”

As The Real Deal previously reported, in September the Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings approved a law that imposes fines up to $25,000 for those who repeatedly use residential buildings as hotels. [CBS] —Christopher Cameron