Group Made a Mint Off Illegal Airbnbs With Fake Hosts, City Alleges

by Max Parrott, amNY

The city is seeking to throw the book at the landlord of a portfolio of allegedly illegal Brooklyn Airbnbs in a lawsuit seeking millions in penalties.

Owner Chananya Bineth and his team of family members and associates allegedly raked in $1.3 million in payouts since April 2023 for fraudulently registered short-term rentals in southern Brooklyn and Bushwick, according to the lawsuit.

The NYC Mayor’s Office for Special Enforcement, the agency tasked with enforcing the city’s near-ban on short-term rentals, is seeking $1 million in punitive damages from the landlord, plus $1,000 per day fines for multiple years that the Airbnbs were in operation in violation of four separate public nuisance violations, among other penalties.

The penalties, if enforced, would reach millions — potentially up to $5 million — for the timespan that the Airbnbs were operating in violation of the law.

“This lawsuit is about making clear that our housing stock belongs to the people of this city, and we’re going to fight to keep it accessible, safe, and affordable for all,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a written statement about the lawsuit.

From April 2023 to the present, the lawsuit charges, Bineth and his team of hosts arranged just under 1,400 short-term stays in the Brooklyn rental, plus a few dozen more in a rental in the Bronx that’s not part of the suit. Bineth and his associates did not respond to a request for comment.

According to Airbnb data that the city entered as evidence, the rental properties are booked through May and into October of this year. In addition to Airbnb listings, the landlord hosts a separate proprietary booking website.

The lawsuit alleges Bineth and five business associates including his wife — Gitty Bineth, Akiva Bineth, Maria Corina, Angelica Votta and Moshe “Avi” Katzburg — obtained licenses to host short-term rentals in the two properties based on a fraudulent claim that the co-defendants were full-time tenants in the buildings, located at 8658 16th Avenue in Bath Beach and 114 Wilson Avenue in Bushwick.

After obtaining the short-term rental registrations, the defendants received authorization to advertise the units for legal, hosted stays for up to two guests.

According to the lawsuit, the defendants altered those listings on Airbnb and their own booking website to advertise illegal short-term rentals — including entire units with no host present, occupancy beyond the two-guest limit, or both — in violation of New York City law.

The defendants also used bizarre fake names and profile images on Airbnb to mislead renters into thinking they were renting from a host of a different race or gender.

Exhibits in the lawsuit portray the host photos on Airbnb with the host’s actual ID photos. In the case of Bineth, he used a photo of a Black couple to advertise the listing, which, in the evidence, is arranged next to his actual driver’s license, picturing a man with a beard with payot curls on either side of his face.

“Sup, I’m Chan, the brain behind the scenes at this beautiful space,” his profile on Airbnb reads. “Beyond the hustle, find me pumping iron, jamming to beats & planning impromptu adventure with Alicia my girls & of course Celine.”

OSE inspectors allegedly visited the rentals on multiple occasions and, despite being turned away several times, eventually found that the two buildings had been illegally split up into six total units without the required fire safety measures.

The case is an example of what happens when landlords allegedly ignore the normal system of warnings and fines that the city uses to crack down on illegal Airbnbs. OSE inspectors issued 35 summonses for violations, which have resulted in at least $47,500 in fines, according to the lawsuit, but the violations at the properties have persisted for years.

Beyond heavy fines, the city is seeking to shut down the rental operation in the six units through a court order. The agency filed an injunction against Bineth and his team of hosts to close the rentals down.

“Safeguarding the housing stock includes cracking down on the people and corporate entities that are committing fraud in order to take away units of housing for illegal short-term rentals,” said Christian Klossner, executive director of OSE.

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in amNY. Click here to see the original story.

Related Stories

• Brooklyn Homeowners Rally Against Short-Term Rental Law
• NYC Tenants Stage Another Rally Against Airbnb Bill
• Housing Advocates, Homeowners Spar Over Short-Term Rental Rules

Email tips@brownstoner.com with further comments, questions or tips. Follow Brownstoner on X and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.