Why is it that when a broker shows an apartment they can be expected & liable for showing illegal units/terms/etc, but when Big Tech apps which replace their jobs at scale do it.. "it's hard" so "they shouldn't be expected to"?

It really isn't that hard, and they don't even try because it would reduce their revenue. We can argue if they need to enforce block by block HOA & condos/coops rules.. but they aren't even trying at more macro levels like state/town laws.

I live part of the year in a large summer town with ~100k residents. It has clear, well known rental laws that have been on the books longer than AirBnB existed. For example the minimum lease term is 2 weeks. Yet, of course, if I go to AirBnB and search in town, there are 100 homes being offered by the day. Meanwhile if I go to any of the brokerages to be shown rentals, they only offer month/summer/year length rentals.. because its the law.

Taking it a step further, even large jurisdictions like NYC with 8M people have 1000s of AirBnB listings that are not following even the basic parameters of local law.

"New York City: Rentals under 30 days are prohibited unless the host is present on the property."

OK, great, well why are there daily/weekly AirBnB rentals of "entire apartments" all around NYC with host descriptions like:

During your stay William is available via text or phone if you have any questions about the space. I will try my best to preempt any questions by leaving detailed instructions about the operation of the space.

During your stay I’m available everyday from 9 am until 12am to answer questions and help with anything you might need if I don’t reply fast, feel free to call me

During your stay Will have an open line of communication and on-site support Response rate: 100% Response time: within a few hours