The plaintiff City of New York (city) moved for preliminary injunction pursuant to MDL §306 “prohibiting certain individuals and companies from permitting the use or occupancy of any of the dwelling units in specified buildings for less than thirty consecutive days.”

The plaintiff alleged that beginning in 2015 or earlier, eight individuals and five corporate defendants advertised and rented apartments for “illegal, short-term periods (less than thirty days).” The defendants allegedly conducted their illegal activities in “36 buildings, 25 of which are multiple dwellings.” The defendants created 28 separate Airbnb host accounts, “have accepted over 20,000 illegal short-term rental reservations, and have generated over $5,000,000 in revenue.” The defendants allegedly advertised these rentals through approximately 211 Airbnb listings. The listings did not disclose “the illegality of these transient accommodations nor their safety hazards.” Although the advertisements made the accommodations “seem desirable,” they failed to disclose negative reviews involving “poor or hostile communication with the defendants, a lack of heat and hot water, uncleanliness, poor maintenance, and overcrowded and unsafe conditions.” Their advertisements also failed to list cleaning charges that were as much as $95.