New York State has signed into law a landmark bill making it illegal for owners to rent out residences for less than 30 days, Airbnb has reportedly filed a counter lawsuit in Federal Court.

Under the new law, fines of up to USD7,500.00 would apply to homeowners.

The current market valuation of Airbnb is USD30 billion

According to the New York Times, the online marketplace generated staggering USD1 billion in revenue last year from New York City rentals.

Another legal battle is playing out in San Francisco, where the issue is Airbnb’s right to act as a third party provider of content and not be liable for legal issues on rights to rent.

Stay tuned as the battle of hotels versus the shared economy is well underway.

Bill Barnett is the Founder and Managing Director of C9 Hotelworks, who are a leading consulting firm specializing in hotels, tourism and property development in Asia Pacific. C9 assists developers, private equity and financial institutions, and investors in providing market research, feasibility studies, hotel operator negotiations, asset management and transaction/due diligence support.

From their base of operations in Thailand the group is considered a leading regional player in market intelligence, and publish regular industry updates.

For more information contact www.c9hotelworks.com