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Orinda City Council prohibits non-hosted rentals
Reading Time: 2 minutesCalifornia: Orinda City Council has approved an emergency outright ordinance which prohibits ‘non-hosted’ rentals and placed new restrictions on ‘hosted’ venues. It comes three weeks after five people were shot and killed at a short-term rental property advertised on Airbnb in the city on the outskirts of San Francisco, which turned into a one-night ‘party […]
FLEX 2019 interviews: Mickey Kropf, Vector Travel
Reading Time: < 1 minuteUS: Vector Travel founder and CEO, Mickey Kropf, speaks to ShortTermRentalz at FLEX 2019 in San Francisco about the rise in demand for alternative accommodations in the multifamily rental space, and the significance of the urban living phenomenon. For more information, visit the Vector Travel website here.
Tesla and GM: Lessons from Electric Car Disruption
Reading Time: 2 minutesSan Francisco: Multifamily technology instigator and executive producer at Joshua Tree Conference Group, Steve Lefkovits, speaks about how the short-term rental industry can learn lessons from the electric car disruption led by Tesla and GM. In 2014, Tesla introduced its all-electric Model S sports car. Despite being the quickest car on the planet and the […]
Letulet digital platform launched for renters and landlords
Reading Time: 2 minutesSan Francisco: A digital platform called Letulet has been launched, which includes intuitive tools for renters to gain landlord approval in order to host short-term rentals on Airbnb. The platform also offers lease addendums and conversation starter tips to help renters, while landlords can grant conditional approval for sub-leasing their properties. By launching the platform, Letulet […]
Airbnb donates $2m to San Francisco homelessness cause
Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: Airbnb is partnering with San Francisco mayor London Breed to tackle homelessness in the city. The company has announced that it will contribute $2 million to specifically support homeless youths in San Francisco. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said: “Shelter is a basic need, yet on any given night, nearly 1,200 young people sleep on […]
Rental startup Recharge to add private homes to platform
Reading Time: 2 minutesSan Francisco: Short-term rental startup Recharge is reportedly planning to add private homes to its platform, following a $10 million funding round. The San Francisco-based startup allows hotels to rent out their rooms for short-term periods of minutes or hours at a time, promoting them as private spaces where they can catch a “nap”. Recharge […]
San Francisco Airbnb landlords agree to pay $2.25 million for illegal renting
Reading Time: 2 minutesSan Francisco: A San Francisco couple has paid $2.25 million to settle claims they ran an illegal hotel chain through the vacation rental platform Airbnb. Landlords Darren and Valerie Lee agreed to pay the cash to cover fines and investigation costs after offering 14 apartments as short-term rentals instead of lawfully renting the units to […]
Airbnb commits to clarifying its pricing and terms of service for the EU
Reading Time: < 1 minuteEurope: Airbnb is to modify its terms of service to better inform consumers of their rights and list its prices in a more transparent way. EU commissioner for justice Vera Jourova called on the San Francisco-based short-term rental accommodation website to make the changes as it has been breaching EU rules by not differentiating between […]
Job cuts and restructure at Tripping.com
Reading Time: < 1 minuteUS: Vacation rental metasearch site Tripping.com has restructured and laid off 15 employees in its San Francisco office. The job losses represent about 30 per cent of the company’s workforce. Tripping founders Jeff Manheimer and Jen O’Neal said in a statement: “This week we made the decision to restructure Tripping.com to reduce our cash burn and focus […]
Hostfully and Orbirental announce merger
Reading Time: < 1 minuteUS: Two San Francisco-based vacation rental software startups, Orbirental and Hostfully, have merged. Orbirental provides a property listing management platform while Hostfully is a guest communications platform. “Our companies are a perfect fit for each other. Our vision is aligned, our skills are a great match, and our products are complementary,” said CEO and co-founder Margot Schmorak. “Combined, […]