Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn and Peer-to-Peer Rentals: The Sharing Economy, North Carolina, and the Constitution

Within the past several years, a new business model has rapidly expanded into a billion dollar industry, with potential to expand further—the sharing economy. The North Carolina General Assembly has yet to address how it intends to regulate the sharing economy. The General Assembly could choose to create completely new regulations for the sharing economy, decide to shoehorn the sharing economy into existing regulations, or elect to do a bit of both. As the General Assembly makes its decision, it should keep in mind the Constitutional challenges that new regulations will prompt. This Recent Development evaluates how the General Assembly should address regulating the sharing economy.