The uneasy peace between Paris City Hall and the vacation apartment websites has frayed to the point of a city lawsuit over enforcement of registration rules and renting limits.
After years of contention over Paris rules that banned much of the city’s apartments from the short-term rental market, the city instituted two new rules late last year.
The first allows apartment-dwellers to rent out their primary home for up to 120 days a year in short-term rentals; the other required that they register their apartments with the city and display the registration number in their ads on Airbnb and its smaller German competitor, Wimdu.
The websites were required to remove listings without the number, but the city says that 85% of listings are without numbers. Some may have registered but not given Airbnb the number, but many others are out of compliance, which can trigger hefty penalties. In addition to the suit, the city is asking for new legislation that could fine Airbnb up to €5000 a day for any new numberless listing.
