Airbnb Files Petition to Block NY Subpoena, Cites Burden to Compile Data

Skift Take
The subpoena will likely be pared down before it is issued. Some big issues will be coming to a head in this probe, including whether an apartment rental by an individual renders the apartment a hotel that is subject to occupancy tax.
Airbnb filed a petition in New York Supreme Court today seeking to block the state Attorney General's subpoena that seeks detailed information on the site's rentals and hosts over the past three years.
"The burden of responding to the NYAG's subpoena will be substantial," and would require Airbnb to "extract hundreds of thousands of separate records spanning millions of [Excel spreadsheet] cells," the Airbnb petition states.
It would require weeks of work by multiple departments across the company, Airbnb states.
The New York Attorney General's subpoena requests all records -- including det