Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed into law a bill that could deal a blow to Airbnb's operations in New York State.
The bill is a follow-on to a 2010 law that bans rentals of less than 30 days in a multi-unit building if the tenant is not present, which was aimed at cracking down on illegal hotels.
The 2016 bill bans the advertising of such rentals, meaning that hosts could not list a full apartment for rent on Airbnb for less than 30-day increments. Hosts caught listing their unit would be fined up to $7,500 -- more than most Airbnb hosts in New York make in a year.
The bill passed in both houses of the New York State Legislature in June and arrived on Cuomo's desk on Tuesday, meaning that the governor had 10 days to make his decision. The governor signed the bill Friday and Airbnb says it will immediately file a lawsuit against the city of New York and the state attorney general -- who are charged with enforcing the new law -- on grounds that the law violates the First Amendment and the Communications Decency Act.
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