'Airbnb law’ would make business harder for Airbnb’s chief rival

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

San Francisco’s new law to regulate Airbnb could hobble its chief rival’s business here, said a top executive of HomeAway, the world’s biggest vacation-home-rental service.

“This is very much a law written for Airbnb,” said Carl Shepherd, co-founder and chief development officer of HomeAway, a public company in Austin, Texas, that owns the VRBO and HomeAway brands. “It’s as if in (regulating) ride-sharing in San Francisco, you had only spoken to Lyft and never to Uber or taxis.”

A key component of the legislation that the Board of Supervisors passed 7-4 on Tuesday is that only permanent San Francisco residents — who reside here at least nine months a year — can rent their homes or rooms to tourists. When the law takes effect Feb. 1, all hosts must register with the city, asserting under penalty of perjury that they fulfill that condition.

What San Francisco will do to raise prices for consumers.