Thu 01 June 2021:
Paris won a major court fight against Airbnb on Thursday after a court ordered the home-sharing giant to pay an eight million euro ($9.5 million) fine for allowing over 1,000 listings to flout registration rules.
It was the latest clash between the US home rental platform and the French capital over accusations the platform is turning a blind eye to rule-breakers and exacerbating a housing shortage that is driving up property prices.
The case was filed in 2019 after officials found 1,010 listings for Paris, one of Airbnb’s biggest markets, without the registration numbers required since a law passed in 2017.
The registrations are used to make sure that properties are not rented out more than 120 nights a year and that rental income is declared to the tax authorities.
Airbnb argued that as a service provider, it should not be responsible for ensuring that users of its site comply with local regulations.
But the Paris court ordered a fine of 8,000 Euros per listing “given the severity of the violations… and their consequences with regards of the public interest of fighting against the shortage of rental lodgings” in the capital.
But the fine was lower than the 12.5 million euros sought by the city.
“This ruling, a first in France, is a great victory in our fight for housing for all and the regulation of the rental market,” Mayor Anne Hidalgo said on Twitter.
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