2 Singapore Airbnb hosts plead guilty to illegal rentals

SINGAPORE – Two men have pleaded guilty to using platforms including Airbnb to rent out condominium units for less than six months in Singapore, where short-term rentals are illegal.

Terence Tan En Wei and Yao Songliang pleaded guilty Tuesday at the State Court to four charges of illegally renting out four condominium units last year. They face fines of up to 200,000 Singapore dollars ($151,843) per charge.

Offering short stays in private homes is illegal in Singapore, where most residents live in subsidized public housing. The minimum rental period had been six months, but has since been reduced to three months.

This is Singapore’s first court case involving Airbnb. The home-rental service has drawn fire elsewhere from long-term renters and city officials upset about lost revenue from hotel taxes.