Taking on Airbnb in Berlin

From dw:

Almost 8,000 apartments were returned to the rental market in Berlin last year thanks to strict property laws introduced in 2016, according to figures from the Senate Department for Urban Development and Housing published by German media on Sunday.
About half of those had been used as vacation rentals through services such as Airbnb, which have long been criticized for their effect on housing markets worldwide. The remaining 3,915 apartments returned to the long-term residential market had simply sat empty. …
The law, the Zweckentfremdungsverbotsgesetz, introduced fines of up to €100,000 ($125,000) for landlords illegally renting out their property for short-term stays. Since the law came into force, more than €2.6 million euros of fines have been imposed, according to RBB.