Who's apartment is this? Your Airbnb might be a hotel

AirBnB has moved the sharing economy out of Burningman tents and into the world market, allowing regular people to connect and exchange. Instead of the touristy, homogenous hotels, now you can stay at a real apartment and, if not have an authentic experience of a local, at least pretend to. A place to stay for the people, by the people – or not?

According to recent reports, the sharing economy might not be as friendly as it seems on the surface — at least that's not the picture illustrated by Airbnb rentals with brand new, matching Ikea furniture, unused ironing boards in the corner and closets full of empty hangers. Houses like that make you wonder — does anybody ever really live here?

Murray Cox noticed that there were 1,500 Airbnb rentals in his New Orleans neighborhood and he was suspicious. So he gathered the data on his website, Inside Airbnb and it spoke volumes. For example, 30.4% of hosts had multiple listings, which might suggest that some of these people could be jacking the system. Now, I'm not here to thwart the capitalist dreams of the people, but some of these rentals may be going against the original "sharing" concept – and the law.

Here's what Murray says about this on his website:

"Hosts with multiple listings are more likely to be running a business without a license and not paying taxes, and if they are renting out an entire home or apartment and aren't present, are probably doing so illegally."

But your authentic supporting of the local economy may actually be feeding the coffers of someone that doesn't even live in that city. Sarah Kessler at Fastcompany says:

"Laws about renting out an apartment for a short-term stay vary by city. A law in New York, for instance, makes it illegal to rent an apartment for less than 30 days if the owner is not around. There’s a similar law in San Francisco."

When Road Warrior Voices asked Airbnb for a response, here's what Christopher Nulty, Airbnb spokesperson, said:

"The vast majority of Airbnb hosts are middle class families sharing the home in which they live and using that money to pay the bills, stay in their homes and make ends meet."

I would prefer to think of it this way.

While for the most part, Airbnb is a godsend to travelers and real apartment dwellers alike, this kind of rush on juicy properties for the Airbnb market could also be pushing rent up for people who actually live there. And it could be changing the neighborhood's general demeanor due to weekly turnover of the population.