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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A San Francisco couple has agreed to pay $ 2.25 million to the city for illegally renting 14 apartments in Airbnb format.
City prosecutor Dennis Herrera announced the deal on Monday, describing the sentence as a deterrent to deter others seeking to profit illegally from the city's housing crisis.
The San Francisco Chronicle announced that Darren and Valerie Lee had agreed to pay the money as a penalty and investigative costs. Lee's lawyer, John C. Brown, did not immediately respond to a call soliciting comments on Monday.
The Lees have also been banned for at least seven years from offering short-term rentals in any of the 17 buildings they own or manage in San Francisco.
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Faced with a serious shortage of affordable housing, San Francisco has been grappling with the problem of tourist rental in private residences and apartments since Airbnb's launch in the city.
San Francisco now has strict laws that require people who rent their homes through online sites such as Airbnb and HomeAway / VRBO to live in the unit at least 275 nights a year and not rent it for more than 90 days during this period.
The city first sued the Lees in 2014 for evicting tenants, including a disabled person, from one of their buildings in order to rent spaces on Airbnb. The Lees settled this case for $ 276,000 and have accepted an injunction against any vacation rentals in their 17 properties.
Herrera's office said the Lees had ignored the injunction and took "far-reaching and underhand" measures to claim that the apartments were rented to long-term tenants.
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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com
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