Airbnb illegal rentals get a couple of $ 2,000 in San Francisco

A San Francisco couple has paid $ 2.25 million to settle claims that it has run an illegal hotel chain via the Airbnb vacation rental service, the city's attorney said on Monday.

Homeowners Darren and Valerie Lee have agreed to pay money to cover fines and investigation fees after proposing 14 apartments for short-term renting instead of renting them to residential tenants, city attorney says , Dennis Herrera.

The settlement and sanction "send a clear message to those who seek to illegally profit from the San Francisco housing crisis: do not try.We will catch you up," Herrera said in a press release. "More importantly, we have preserved more than 45 housing units intended for use as homes, not hotel rooms, and we are opposed to the housing crisis in San Francisco."

Critics say that Airbnb is driving up rental prices and reduces the availability of housing in cities such as San Francisco and New York.

The high cost of housing in San Francisco resulted in a stricter application of the vacation rental laws that came into effect earlier this year. These laws generally prohibit homeowners from offering multiple listings.

Under the court-approved settlement, the Lees can not offer short-term tenancies in any of the 17 San Francisco buildings they own or manage. The couple paid $ 276,000 to settle a previous case in 2014 in which they evicted tenants to convert a property into a short-term rental.

Airbnb and its competitor HomeAway are required to register all vacancy listings with the city, which conducts checks to ensure that guests live well in rented accommodation.