Newark is considering clamping down on home rental services like Airbnb, in a move officials say will help regulate the growing industry and allow the city to cash in on the profits.

A group of proposed ordinances will require homeowners to collect the signatures of everyone on their block in order to apply for a $300 annual permit that allows short-term rentals (28 days or less). The names and ages of all guests must also be provided to the city. Only homeowners will be permitted to participate.

“People are operating Airbnbs in the city, unregulated as far as we’re concerned,” said Kenyatta Stewart, the city’s corporation counsel. “If there’s an incident that happens, the city needs to have a sense of what’s going on."

He said the proposed legislation was prompted by residents complaining about short-term rentals bringing unknown groups of people to their blocks.

“The people within the neighborhood should have some say so on what’s going on their neighborhood," Stewart said. “And not have to wake up to strangers in a hotel room on their block.”

Airbnb, the online short-term rental giant, is fighting these measures. Turning over guest information is unprecedented, the company said, and not required of brick-and-mortar hotels. Airbnb officials said the stringent regulations are burdensome and in Newark, could affect how residents are benefitting from the burgeoning sharing economy.

“A lot of people share their homes because they are rent-burdened,” said Liz DeBold Fusco, an Airbnb spokeswoman. “Cutting out renters is basically saying to renters who are the most rent-burdened, you don’t get to access this tool.”

In Newark, 78 percent of residents are renters.

Last year, about 35,000 guests stayed in the city through 250 Airbnb hosts, the company said. On average, a typical host earned $8,200 a year. Most guests were solo travelers, couples or small families with the average group size of 2.2 people staying for 3.5 nights, the company said.

“It’s good for the city, not just for the tax revenue they can benefit from but also from the small businesses that are getting patronized,” DeBold Fusco said. She said enacting onerous legislation could put the city at a competitive disadvantage, especially as it looks to grow as a tech hub.

Newark is joining cities across the U.S. that have stepped up their regulation of the industry, in many cases requiring some sort of registration system. New York City demanded companies turn over information about the hosts but a judge blocked the law this year, according to media reports. The measure was meant to relieve housing affordability concerns and discourage landlords from seeking higher profits through short-term rentals versus long-term leases.

“We’re not against regulation, we think we can achieve common sense regulation,” DeBold Fusco said. “We have done so all over the world and we want to work together to do that.”

Aibnb sent a letter to city officials proposing alternatives.

The ordinances were deferred on first reading during Wednesday’s City Council meeting and will be heard later this month.

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook.

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