Lou rents an apartment in a high-rise building in New York City, for which she has a one-year written lease. The lease is attached. There’s a lovely lobby, with a doorman who greets everyone, and friendly tenants. The apartment was nicely renovated by the landlord before she moved in and is generally very comfortable. It is, however, in a higher-crime neighborhood, which, in fact, has been a bit of a concern for her. In the last six months, Lou heard of two burglaries – one in the building across the street and one in an apartment downstairs. Her front door is very secure, but she noticed a month ago that cold weather damaged the lock on the back door that leads to the fire escape. With a very busy work schedule, she hasn’t had the chance to let her landlord know about this. Lou leaves New York to visit family here in Boston every other week. She heard a lot about AianB and decided that allowing a guest to use her apartment through AianB is a good way to make some extra money. She plans to allow guests to use her apartment every other weekend throughout the year and for a couple of weeks when she is on vacation in December and August. Read the information below carefully and answer all the questions that follow. Answer the questions fully, but do not include background information, summaries of facts or irrelevant information. Your response should be about 4-5 well-written pages, double- spaced. To avoid substantial late penalty, your paper is due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, March 4 in hard copy form. Before answering the questions, go on the airbnb website to find out more about how it works: www.airbnb.com. Also, be sure to read the attached lease. Point allocations for each question are noted below and 5 points are allocated to writing mechanics: correct punctuation, spelling, grammar, syntax and paragraph formation.
1A. Make a list of the risks Lou runs with her landlord as a result of the plan to rent the apartment to short-term visitors through AianB. Be specific. Include both legal and financial risks. For example, here is a start: The guest could damage the walls, floors, ceiling or fixtures in the apartment and you would be liable to cover the costs of fixing it.
Make a list of the risks Lou runs with government authorities (such as the State of New York) as a result of the plan to rent the apartment to short-term visitors through AianB. Be specific.
2. Is hotel occupancy tax owed, and if so, by whom? By you, by your guests or by Aian
Explain.
Consult: www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/business/hotel.shtml.
3. Lou decides that she needs a contract between her and her guests. Make a list of all the terms she should include in the contract. DO NOT write the contract itself; just describe what the provisions should be. Be specific. For example, here is a start: Guest can’t bring other people into the apartment without notifying Lou.
4. Lou allows an AianB guest to stay in the apartment while she takes a weekend trip to Boston. She leaves her cell number with instructions that if there’s any problem, the guest should notify her. The guest calls on Saturday night, crying, and explains that someone came up the fire escape, pushed open the back door (which was possible due to the broken lock, see above) and assaulted her. She sustained two broken ribs and is really shaken up. If she filed a lawsuit against Lou for negligence, would she win? Use the process of legal analysis to answer this question.