Protesters who support AirBNB gathered at Miami City Hall Monday as a battle is brewing between South Florida leaders and the popular home rental service.
The mayors from both Miami and Miami Beach are cracking down on homeowners who illegally rent out their homes through the service.
Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine wants to crack down on any AirBNB hosts who are renting out their homes in residential neighborhoods where it is against city code. The City of Miami wants to pass an ordinance this week to prevent the same thing.
"The administration will aggressively enforce the zoning code of the City of Miami by going after people who are doing commercial activities in residential areas," Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado said.
Both cities say they've received complaints from residents worried about their safety and quality of life because of these rentals, and have already issued citations and fines to try and bring AirBNB hosts into compliance.
AirBNB hosts and users hope to make an agreement with the cities as they have with Miami-Dade County.
"We want to be regulated, it's not our way or the highway. We at least deserve a seat at the table. These are residents, taxpayers and voters, we deserve a seat at the table," said Tom Martinelli, AirBNB director of public policy.
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Miami-Dade has taken another route, announcing Monday that they now have an agreement with AirBNB to collect a six percent resort tax from hosts that could bring upward of $8 million in new revenue for the county.
