A Miami-based hotel operator was fined $1.2M by New York City last week for illegally operating short-term rentals in New York City for more than three years, but its potential troubles are far from over. LuxUrban Hotels, which bills itself as an "asset-light" hotel chain because it master leases hotel buildings rather than buying them, has been hit with several lawsuits from landlords and vendors alleging it skipped out on bills. It is also the subject of a short-seller report that takes aim at the publicly traded firm's financial statements. Bisnow also found two instances of the company announcing it has signed deals to take over hotels, reporting the leases in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission but then later admitting the deals were never finalized. LuxUrban announced last week, a day after the $1.2M fine was announced, that founder Brian Ferdinand would be stepping back from his role as co-CEO of the firm. 
Ferdinand told Bisnow in an email that relinquishing his co-CEO title — he had been sole CEO until November — was part of a long-term plan to hand over the reins of the company to co-CEO Shanoop Kothari, who is also acting chief financial officer.The announcement of the CEO transition… Read the full story here. | 
