NYC landlords file suits claiming Airbnb and tenants ‘thumbing their noses’ at new home-sharing restrictions
A pair of landlords on Manhattan’s Upper West Side are suing Airbnb and two tenants for flouting new city restrictions on home sharing — with the building owners claiming they are being exposed to stiff fines.
Airbnb and the tenants are “thumbing their noses” at Local Law 18, which went into effect on Sept. 5 and requires hosts to register with the city in order to rent out their apartments for stretches less than 30 days, according to Michael Pensabene, a real estate attorney at law firm Rosenberg & Estis.
The firm represents the owner of 207 Columbus Ave. — a five-story walkup that got slapped with a $12,000 fine last month for allowing tenant Carmen Magarin de Dominguez to illegally list her three-bedroom apartment on Airbnb — despite the fact she doesn’t live there, according to court papers.
“She’s advertising my client’s unit to accommodate up to 16 people and she is charging $1,000 a night,” Pensabene told The Post. “And if we can’t stop Carmen Dominguez from doing this, she could cause another fine to be issued that would be twice as much as the one we have now.”
Dominguez — who in court papers attributed traffic in and out of her apartment to “roommates” and “friends and family” — failed to appear at a court hearing in the case on Monday, according to Pensabene. She couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, the owner of 30 Lincoln Plaza — a posh, 33-story, glass-and-steel tower across the street from Lincoln Center that boasts a private club and rooftop pool — is suing 73-year-old tenant Jerome Dewald, claiming he has been renting out his one-bedroom apartment for $175 a night and a second “private sitting room.”
The latter has a sofa bed and a “wall secretary [that] serves as a partition, with a locking door,” for $87 a night, according to court documents.
The building’s 24-hour doormen and surveillance cameras spotted Dewald “on two separate occasions carrying both sheetrock and wooden 2x4s in the building ,.. presumably” to create “an additional bedroom” in violation of his lease and required approvals from the Department of Buildings, according to court papers.
“Can you imagine a 73-year-old man carrying a 4×8 piece of sheetrock by himself?” Dewald told The Post, denying the allegations in an interview.
Dewald conceded his apartment wasn’t registered with the city. “We were in the middle of an orderly wind-down of my listings when the posse showed up with its bags of lies,” he said, referring to his landlord and the law firm representing it.
“I’ve been upfront about renting on Airbnb,” Dewald added. “I live with my guests when they are here.”
Nevertheless, “He is improperly using the apartment for transient guests,” countered Deborah Riegel, an attorney representing landlord S&P Associates, which hasn’t yet been slapped with fines over Dewald’s listings. S&P also claims that Dewald has not paid his rent since the pandemic and has a dog — a beagle named Ricky, according to Dewald’s Airbnb profile — against the building’s no-pet policy.
Airbnb took Dewald’s listing down after the landlord’s lawsuit was filed on Oct. 5. It removed Dominguez’s listing on Sept. 21, according to court documents.
Airbnb said it is cooperating with the city to enforce the law, saying it relies on the city’s verification system to weed out hosts who aren’t registered. The city’s Office of Special Enforcement, which regulates home sharing sites and enforces the new law, did not respond to requests for comment.
The legal squabbles are the latest sign of chaos that has erupted since the law went into effect, which has decimated Airbnb’s presence in New York City as many hosts have either been forced into offering 30-day rentals or have gone underground, instead listing their spaces on Craigslist and Facebook, as The Post reported.
While the city has struggled to meet demand for registrations, the new rules have also made it less attractive for hosts. Now, for example, the city is enforcing a requirement for hosts to be home when they are renting out space to visitors and are not allowed to rent to more than two people per night.
According to a Bloomberg report, the New York law has Wall Street concerned about Airbnb’s stock, with an “all-time high” of six analysts advising investors to sell.
Dewald, meanwhile, is no stranger to controversy. Last year, an Instagram post of him in Central Park holding a bullhorn that blared “asshole” at cyclists who ignored traffic lights and speed limits went viral, as The Post reported.
He also attracted attention for his marijuana legalization advocacy in the Big Apple where he came under scrutiny for running a PAC and was busted in 2005 in Michigan on fraud and larceny charges tied to two political action committees – one for Al Gore and one for George W. Bush.
Dominguez is also being sued by another landlord –Wid Realty Corp. – who has been trying to evict her from a nearby apartment at 227 Columbus Ave. since April, claiming she listed her unit in that building on Airbnb in violation of multi-dwelling regulations that were previously on the books.
Dominguez has denied the allegations, according to court documents.
