Airbnb sued by hoteliers for "unfair competition" – 06/11/2018 16:03:45

The main organization of the hotel and restaurant sector in France has badigned Airbnb before the Paris Commercial Court for "unfair competition", believing that the tourist rental platform "knowingly violates" the regulations that govern its activity.

In an badignment consulted by AFP, Airbnb Ireland, headquartered in Dublin, is accused of leaving contentious ads online. A first hearing on the procedure will be held on February 14, 2019.

These advertisements exceed the legal duration of 120 days per year, have not been the object of a declaration of furnished tourism or "violate the rights of owners, who are victims of abusive subletting", argues the l Union of Trades and Industries of the Hotel Industry (Umih).

It asks symbolically, in "compensation for moral damage", a conviction of 143 euros which corresponds to the price of the night received by a Parisian host who had subleased his home without the consent of its owner. The District Court of the 6th arrondissement of Paris has condemned the platform to compensate this owner for some 8,000 euros, February 6, 2018.

She also claims 50,000 euros for reimbursement of legal fees.

According to the organization, "the non-compliance with the regulations by the company Airbnb is perfectly badumed" insofar as "on its website, it recognizes expressly" do disable ads in Paris, beyond 120 nights, only in the four boroughs of the center.

These violations of the regulations provided for by the Tourism Code and the Construction and Housing Code, constitute "necessarily acts of unfair competition" argues the Umih in his summons.

– Offer estimated at 6.5 billion euros –

The Umih accuses the platform of "illicit acts necessarily pharaonic", resuming "undeniable estimates" that have figured to 6.5 billion euros the offer of tourist accommodation proposed in France by Airbnb in 2016.

"Starting from the premise that the company Airbnb offers to rent 1% of illegal offers, the total loss for the profession (hotel) would quantify tens of millions of euros only over a year," argues the organization.

"As a union, the Umih can not get compensation in place of its members, but it can have unfair competition recognized.If it was recognized, the entirety of its members could individually claim compensation", told AFP Mr. Jonathan Bellaïche, the lawyer Umih.

For Airbnb, "hotel lobbies continue to protect their interests and try to restrict the rights of French to also benefit from tourism," said a spokesman.

The platform is "not surprised (e) of this new attempt by French hotel lobbies, which follows a long series of lawsuits – all unsuccessful," he told AFP.

At the end of October, a tenant who had subleased his Paris apartment on Airbnb without the agreement of its owner was however ordered to return to it the entirety of 46,000 euros she had collected from 2011 to 2018, and to be expelled.

And at the beginning of the year, the platform was also condemned because a tenant had subleased his apartment via the platform beyond the legal period of 120 days per year.

In June, the tourist rental platforms had committed "voluntarily" to limit to 120 days per year the rental of the main residences, setting up by the end of the year an automatic blocking that will become anyway mandatory as of January 1, 2019.

In Paris intra-muros, Airbnb offers some 65,000 accommodations, of which 38%, about 25,000, had been registered on November 5 last, told AFP the City of Paris, while the hotel offering is 80,000 rooms in the capital.

Across France, half a million homes, 10% in rural areas, are advertised on the platform.