September 14, 2014
The Washington Post’s Wonkblog had an interesting piece on efforts by San Francisco and other cities to set up rules for short-term rental services like Airbnb. At one point it tells readers:
“critics of any new regulation will likely argue that it imposes onerous bureaucracy on would-be hosts, while setting up a complex system that the city can’t maintain.”
Actually, it should be fairly easy to enforce regulations by simply holding Airbnb responsible for people who rent through its service. This would leave the enforcement problem with Airbnb. If Airbnb lacks the competence to ensure that its rental units comply with the law, then it will replaced by a more competent business. That is the way markets are supposed to work.
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