Last spring, the City of Boston approved an ordinance to regulate short-term housing rentals done through platforms like Airbnb. Needless to say Airbnb was not happy and filed a lawsuit against the city in November.  Well, the judge has ruled on this case. 

According to the Boston Globe, US District Judge Leo T. Sorokin stated that Boston can’t “eject a short-term rental service from the city as punishment for posting and failing to remove listings that violate the ordinance.”  Sorkin also stated that Boston can’t require short-term rental services to report to the city how many days each month a rental is occupied. 

However, the judge did not move to block the fine of $300-per-day issued any time a rental service accepts a fee for booking a unit that violates guidelines.

City Councilor Michelle Wu responded on the ruling via twitter calling it a “big win” for Boston in helping to protect residential housing stock.

What do you think?