The Netherlands highest court has dealt a blow to thousands of Airbnb hosts who had hoped to get a refund of charges by the vacation rental company under a Dutch law that bars real estate agents from collecting from both sides of a transaction. The court ruled it does not apply to short-term rentals.
A lower court ruling against Airbnb in Amsterdam led to over 40,000 hosts filing to claim millions in refunds, since Airbnb had also charged renters a fee. The case was also widely supported by consumer rights organizations. Airbnb argued that the law applied only to long-term rentals and filed a counterclaim in Rotterdam court.
In the Rotterdam case, Airbnb asked the judge to seek a binding opinion from the Supreme Court, an option open only to judges. Now that the Supreme Court has issued that ruling, other cases around the country will have to follow that ruling.
Airbnb has been under considerable pressure in Dutch cities where it is argued that too many short-term rentals are squeezing out local tenants and raising rental rates, as well as flooding central areas with ‘overtourism.’ It seems likely that there will now be attempts in Parliament to extend the law to short-term rentals or to create a new law.
