Jersey City Short-Term Rental Community Launches VOTE NO on Municipal Question 1 Effort; Keep Our Homes Campaign Urges Residents to Knock Down Ban This November

Keep Our Homes campaign kicked off today with video urging Jersey City residents to vote No on Municipal Question 1

Over next eight weeks, community members will urge their neighbors to protect their livelihoods at the polls on Election Day

Jersey City, NJ (September 21, 2019) — Today, Keep Our Homes , a public question committee backed by members of the Jersey City short-term rental community and Airbnb, officially kicked off their campaign to urge their family, friends and neighbors to Vote No on Municipal Question 1 and knock down the mayor and City Council’s short-term rental ban on the November ballot.

The campaign — which the community has called Keep Our Homes, given the threat that the mayor and Council’s ban poses to their livelihoods and ability to afford to stay in their homes — launched today with a video, calling on their City to join them and vote No on Municipal Question 1.

“More than 20,000 Jersey City residents stood with us this summer, to help us challenge the mayor and City Council’s anti-short term rental ordinance. Now, we are asking them to stand with us once more, by rejecting these severe restrictions at the polls this Election Day,” said Nadia Sexton, Dmitri Ivanou, Andrew Elkins, Jeff Marino and Jeffrey Hauta, Jersey City residents, members of Jersey City’s short-term rental community and leaders of the referendum campaign. “In this record summer alone, we have seen how our short-term rentals not only ensure that we can afford to be a part of the Jersey City community, but also lift up every corner of our city. Together, we can protect the short-term rental economy — so that we can keep our homes and continue to support countless cleaners, property managers, small businesses and more — by voting No on Municipal Question 1.”

The Jersey City short-term rental community launched their referendum campaign, with the help of Airbnb, in July, after the mayor and City Council pushed through their short-term rental ban without significant input from local residents who rely on the short-term rental economy. In just 20 days, the community was able to collect more than 20,000 signatures to challenge the ban, garnering enough public support to qualify for the November ballot.

This short-term rental ban marked a stark reversal in Jersey City, after this community was championed, legalized and welcomed into the City in 2015. By suddenly changing the rules on the short-term rental community, the mayor and City Council jeopardized the futures of thousands of Jersey City residents, potentially making it impossible for them to pay mortgages on their personal property and placing some in serious risk of bankruptcy or losing their homes. That’s why the Keep Our Homes campaign is standing up to stop this ban and vote no on Municipal Question 1.

A poll conducted this summer by Expedition Strategies has already demonstrated strong support among the Jersey City community for allowing residents to rent out their property through Airbnb, and broad-based opposition to Municipal Question 1.

Specifically, the poll showed:

• A majority of Jersey City voters (63%) support allowing residents in their city to rent out their property through Airbnb as well as in their own neighborhood (62%) — and a majority of voters also oppose banning short-term rentals outright (57%).

• A majority of voters (54%) oppose Municipal Question 1 (including 31% who strongly oppose the ban).

• An overwhelming majority of Jersey City voters say affordable housing is a problem in Jersey City (86%), but only 2% say the biggest reason for lack of affordable housing is short-term rentals like Airbnb driving up the cost of housing.

• A majority of Jersey City voters view Airbnb favorably (52%) — in fact, Airbnb is more popular than the Jersey City Council, which holds a 45% favorability rating.

Facts about the Short-Term Rental Community in Jersey City

There are 3,100 Airbnb listings in Jersey City. The vast majority of these listings are properties into which local residents have invested thousands or even millions of dollars to restore or maintain them. For some hosts, these properties may even be the home in which they live. If this ban is not voted down, many of these residents may have no choice but to sell their home in an attempt to recover their investment. Some have even said that they may be at risk of foreclosure and bankruptcy.

This summer alone, the Jersey City short-term rentals community welcomed 93,700 guests, hosting visitors for the City’s many big events — from the Fourth of July to major sporting events. Along with the income they create for their hosts, these tourists are generating exponential economic activity within Jersey City communities, with many guests spending the money that they saved by staying a short-term rental in order to enjoy local shops and other attractions. Across the United States, Airbnb guests have reported that they spend $160 per day when they travel, with 46 percent of that spending taking place in the community in which they stay. This too represents economic opportunity that will be cut short if residents do not Vote No on Municipal Question 1 and the short-term rental industry is dismantled by the destructive provisions of the mayor and City Council’s ban — including one that will require hosts to turn over their guests’ personal, private information.

Local residents also earned $16.7 million by sharing their properties this summer as part of the short-term rental community. For some local hosts, they have used this income to afford the rising cost of living citywide, brought on by the mayor and City Council’s property tax revaluation last year — and all while employing even more Jersey City residents, including property managers and cleaners. With that in mind, it’s fair to say that most of these dollars have been plowed back into the local economy, benefiting every corner of Jersey City.

In 2018, 96,100 Jersey City residents used Airbnb to travel. Along with the thousands of residents who rely on this industry to afford to live in Jersey City, tens of thousands more Jersey City residents also rely on short-term rentals for their own travel. And along with their own personal support for the short-term rental community, they too will feel the residual impact of the chilling of the local short-term rental economy — whether from neighboring properties that are foreclosed or businesses that take a hit from the drop in patrons — if this ordinance is not voted down.

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