In an interview with Katie Couric, the founder of lodging rental website Airbnb expressed his fears of the ongoing legal drama involving the legality of the listings offered by millions of its hosts. Brian Chesky is currently keeping the company away from illegal whole house renters, among other unsavory types of hosts from its site to keep the firm's once-noble purpose.
The company is currently at odds with the state of New York, for one, over the potential violation of a law that bars short-term rentals. New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has since won a court order that allowed him to retrieve a trove of data on Airbnb's customers.
According to Couric for Yahoo News, Airbnb will also expect challenges from municipalities from Barcelona to Paris to Malibu regarding the right of the firms' member-hosts to rent their properties out and are already conducting investigations on several landlords who have been listing multiple units at one time.
Although hesitant to reveal the company's next steps amid the issues regarding rentals, Chesky said that he has acknowledged the fact that a right number of listings being shuttered due to legalities could send the firm to its knees just as they are about to expand.
Chesky told Couric that he is eyeing to move away from just finding the site's members a place to stay to booking activities and other aspects in the hospitality world. On the other hand, he stressed the importance of the primary reason why the site was established in the first place and said that such plans would not work if the site's members are afraid to list their homes following the company's ongoing legal issues with local governments.
On the other hand, TechCrunch said that the company might want to shift its market focus for the meantime if they want to push through with their expansion plans. According to the tech blog, Airbnb is still a popular choice for investors and is experiencing significant market growth, particularly in Europe.
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