{"id":45160,"date":"2025-11-19T19:35:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T19:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/45160\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T19:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T19:35:09","slug":"subletting-startup-kiki-paid-over-152k-to-settle-charges-after-violating-nyc-short-term-rental-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/45160\/","title":{"rendered":"Subletting startup Kiki paid over $152K to settle charges after violating NYC short-term rental laws"},"content":{"rendered":"

Auckland-founded Kiki Club<\/a> launched its peer-to-peer subletting startup in New York City in 2023 with the mission of helping renters sublet their apartments while traveling for extended periods.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Kiki\u2019s model violated local short-term rental laws, leading to its shutdown this past June. The New York Mayor\u2019s Office of Special Enforcement (OSE) announced on Wednesday that Kiki has agreed to pay over $152,000 to settle charges.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Backed by Blackbird, the Airbnb competitor aimed to simplify the subletting process and boldly promised a solution that would let users sublet their spaces for up to six months. The platform used a matching system similar to those of dating apps, connecting listers and renters based on their preferences.<\/p>\n

However, the startup found itself on the wrong side of NYC\u2019s short-term rental laws. Specifically, Local Law 18,<\/a> which was enacted in 2022. This legislation imposes strict guidelines on short-term rentals, allowing them only if the host is registered with the OSE as a short-term rental host and meets additional criteria, such as staying in the same unit as the guests.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the law was first introduced, many Airbnb hosts found the regulations too difficult to manage, leading to a dramatic 85% drop<\/a> in short-term rentals, according to Inside Airbnb, an organization that monitors the platform\u2019s data.<\/p>\n

Additionally, under the law, booking services must use OSE\u2019s verification system to confirm that hosts are either registered or exempt. Unverified transactions face a penalty of $1,500 or three times the revenue earned, whichever is lower.<\/p>\n

According to the OSE, Kiki failed to submit quarterly reports of short-term rental transactions for eligible listings and didn\u2019t verify nearly 400 short-term rental transactions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis settlement sends a clear message: If you are a company that facilitates short-term rentals, ignoring city laws will be an expensive proposition,\u201d Christian Klossner, executive director of the OSE, said in a statement. \u201cKiki Club acted as a clandestine conduit for unregistered and illegal short-term rentals, directly undermining the city\u2019s efforts to protect tenants and preserve permanent housing.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Kiki did not admit or deny the findings, it paid the penalties. A spokesperson for Kiki previously acknowledged in an interview with SmartCompany <\/a>that the company was aware it was operating in a \u201cgray regulatory area.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, despite facing such significant consequences in New York, Kiki isn\u2019t throwing in the towel. In June, the startup announced<\/a> its launch in London.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to note that the UK also has regulations<\/a> concerning illegal renting. Renting to someone who doesn\u2019t have the right to rent in the UK can lead to up to five years in prison or a hefty fine.<\/p>\n

Hopefully, the startup learned a valuable lesson in New York so its London-based platform doesn\u2019t meet the same fate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Auckland-founded Kiki Club launched its peer-to-peer subletting startup in New York City in 2023 with the mission of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[25861,25862,9,56,63,65,64,4753,5911],"class_list":["post-45160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-apartment-rentals","tag-kiki-club","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-rentals","tag-startups"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}