Airbnb Contests Paris City Hall Claim of Illegal Adverts
- Mayor Hidalgo seeks 12.5 million-euro fine for site’s listings
- Airbnb says rental rules in Paris breach European regulation
Photographer: Ludocis/Marin/AFP via Getty Images
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Airbnb Inc. said rules for short-term tourist rentals in Paris are excessively bureaucratic and might breach European Union standards, as the city’s authorities seek a 12.5 million-euro ($14 million) fine against the online home-stay company for posting illegal advertisements.
The terms set by city hall “are inefficient, disproportionate and against European regulations,” a spokeswoman for Airbnb said in an email on Sunday, after Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said in an interview with weekly Journal du Dimanche that the French capital’s authorities sued Airbnb for posting 1,000 illegal rental listings.