Articles

Home-sharing is an economic boon. So why are cities trying to stamp it out?

January 10, 2019 | By CALEB TROTTER

Last year, Iowa property owners earned a cool $9.3 million renting out their properties through the popular home-sharing service Airbnb. That’s $9.3 million that helps the owners to pay mortgages on those properties, as well as other expenses like school tuition, groceries, and emergency savings. In addition, the 100,000 or so bookings raised ...

Articles

Nashville's unconstitutional efforts to limit short-term rentals

July 08, 2016 | By CALEB TROTTER

With the rise of websites like Airbnb and VRBO, short-term rentals dramatically increase the opportunities for property-owners to supplement their income and retain flexibility with their homes. Unfortunately, last year, Nashville passed two ordinances that unconstitutionally regulate and restrict the ability of property-owners to rent their prope ...

Articles

Recent threats to the First Amendment and short-term rentals

June 30, 2016 | By CALEB TROTTER

It should come as no surprise that governments struggle to regulate the disruptive nature of the “sharing economy.” Lately, this struggle has resulted in increasingly burdensome regulations on property owners renting their property short-term, and on the websites like Airbnb and VRBO that provide a platform to list those properties for ...

Articles

Uber, Lyft, VRBO, and the value of economic liberty

October 13, 2014 | By ANASTASIA BODEN

I was recently interviewed on the Power and Market Report about Uber, Lyft, VRBO and other innovations which are providing consumers with excellent new services.  Naturally the old regime is not pleased, and has taken to lobbying state legislatures to step in and ban the competition.  I discuss PLF’s efforts to fight anti-competitive laws w ...