For almost three years, I’ve been talking with county and state officials in an attempt to close a loophole in Megan’s Law that allows sexual predators to secretly stay in short-term rentals (STRs) in our neighborhoods without having to inform anyone — not even law enforcement.
Assemblyman Matt Simpson was among the few to grasp the depth of this issue and do something. (Doug Beaty and Rachael Seeber were the others.) Mr. Simpson authored A-4997, a state law that would have closed the Megan’s Law STR Loophole. For the first time, my wife and I had a sense of comfort that something real was going to get done. Never in my life did we think protecting families against sexual predators would be a partisan issue. Who’s pro-sexual predator?
Recently, the NYS Democrats put a stop to a package of “Republican” anti-crime bills — including A-4997. To make matters worse, Airbnb has recently stated that it’s the government’s responsibility, not theirs, to check for compliance — on their hosting site. A company that makes $8B/year doesn’t want to hire the staff to help counties and towns with compliance. Instead, Airbnb wants the taxpayer to fund their oversight while they spend millions to make nightmare situations, such as sexual assaults, go away.
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It’s the responsibility of the government to put public safety — especially the safety of our children — first. As a dad, I’m against owner-unoccupied STRs in residential zones and call for a moratorium on all STRs until our local elected officials close this horrific loophole that gives sexual predators unfettered access into our neighborhoods and to our children.
As we move into the heavy tourism season, you may want to think more about who’s staying in your neighborhood and join me to advocate for change.
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