Should Airbnb be regulated? NJ hotel official and callers weigh in

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop might just be "Capitalist of the Week" for supporting Airbnb while New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio continues to treat the room rental service as illegal.

If you ask me, there's no difference between renting a shore house and using Airbnb, and regulating Airbnb like the hotel industry would harm this budding business. Of course, not everyone agrees.

Joseph Simonetta, the Executive Vice President of New Jersey Hotel and Lodging Association, called in to offer his perspective that Airbnb participants should be regulated.

Listeners also chimed in, many of whom had used Airbnb or a similar service.

Andy from New Gretna said that Airbnb is dangerous without government regulation because people expect a certain standard when they stay somewhere, and it's not always guaranteed. He referenced Uber as a similarly unsafe service.

Al, a 39-year-old in Burlington, disagreed with Andy. He said Airbnb is fundamentally different from a hotel because renters can browse profiles for rooms to find a place that suits them, and people renting their homes out can refuse to house anyone they don't like.

Rick from Englishtown said landowners and property managers like himself oppose Airbnb because government is already crushing them with rent control and other regulations, not because they dislike Airbnb itself.

What do you think of Airbnb? Should politicians get involved or leave it alone? Take the poll below and tweet @nj1015 and @BillSpadea to continue the conversation.