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Comment by spuz | Hacker News Reader

I really wonder how much pressure AirBnB must be feeling from hosts in order to go through with this idea. There's no way that they have done thinking it would not have some downsides. I really would like to know how they calculated that going through with this idea would be a better option than doing nothing.

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My thoughts too. But why does Airbnb care? Presumably the landlords will just come back or be replaced, and it’s not like they have shown concern for ethics in a long time.

Yeah exactly. Either they have been incredibly naive by thinking this would be seen as a purely positive gesture, or there is some business angle that we're not seeing.

> But why does Airbnb care?

Maybe they’re taking a cut and their other revenue streams have dried up?

My only thought would be if they collapse it could potentially be actual homeowners that would purchase the house instead of investors ending with less airbnb properties.

AirBNB are hoping for quick reopening and a "V-shaped recovery". They want things to get back to normal as quickly as possible, because the longer the current situation drags on for, the more their business and billions of invested money is at risk. They won't be able to do a quick reopening if 1/4 or 1/2 of the properties they list are being foreclosed on. That process can take multiple years for a property to be occupied again.

Right, so the bit I was missing here is that you're saying the properties won't be quickly re-listed or replaced by other landlords. Thanks.

My guess is that AirBnB is on the verge of collapse and this is one of a few last ditch efforts to keep things going.

If there are no properties or less properties on AirBnB because those properties were foreclosed on then AirBnB seizes to exist.

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