As our country is mired in a nation-wide housing crisis right now, we decided to dive into one of the many causes of this crisis: short-term
rental companies like Airbnb. On this week's podcast,
Roy Samaan of
LAANE, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, tells us how shady landlords can use Airbnb to buy up multiple housing units in neighborhoods and lease them at much higher prices on the website, which drives up the prices of entire neighborhoods. And because these rentals are so much more expensive than the original rental prices, these renters can also let these units sit vacant for months without filling them, preventing new tenants from having access to affordable housing and moving into these neighborhoods.