Mayor Eric Adams has a message to New Yorkers.

“When I talk about law and order, I’m talking about law and order not only from violent crime, but also from those who believe they are going to have a disorderly rental market in our city," Adams said.

In front of an apartment building on the East Side of Manhattan, Adams announced that the city is suing licensed real estate broker Arron Latimer and his associates for illegally renting out several apartments.

“We are not going to stand by while shady brokers use illegal listings [and] fake host accounts to skirt the law and defraud customers," Adams said.

The city alleges that just this building generated close to $1 million in the last four years with short-term rentals through the booking site Airbnb.

According to the lawsuit, the broker misled consumers and put them in danger based on reviews that complained about dirt and mold.

“If you are coming to New York, stay in a hotel. Stay in a place that is legal. Don’t go to a place that’s not legal,” said Gale Brewer, a councilwoman representing the Upper West Side.

New York State does not allow rentals that are shorter than 30 days unless the host also lives there. 

The hotel industry has repeatedly asked the city and the state to impose tougher restrictions on this rental sector.

“Unregulated short-term rentals take much-needed housing stock off the market,” said Rich Maroko, President of the Hotel Trades Council.

The city is asking for thousands of dollars in fines.

Also, starting in January, a new law will require rental hosts to register with the city.

“Airbnb currently shares information with the city, and looks forward to working with the city and state to build an effective and transparent regulatory framework to differentiate between the responsible hosts who should be protected under the law and operators of properties like this who have no place on our platform," Airbnb said in a statement.

NY1 made several attempts to contact the defendants without success.