Airbnb lawsuit claims a Biloxi conspiracy illegally restricts short-term rentals
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- Airbnb and homeowner sue Biloxi, alleging city colluded with hotel group.
- Lawsuit claims ordinances bar short-term rentals across large swaths of the city.
- Airbnb seeks damages and a court order to void ordinances as unlawful restraints on trade.
Airbnb has filed a lawsuit in federal court that accuses the city of Biloxi of conspiring with the Mississippi Hotel & Lodging Association to “severely restrict” short-term rentals, driving up hotel prices, and limiting flexibility for consumers and residents.
Airbnb, an online marketplace for short-term rentals, and Biloxi property owner Patrice Perillo filed the lawsuit. The lodging association is not being sued, although allegations of a conspiracy between the association and city are detailed.
“This conspiracy – an agreement between Biloxi and a private trade association to restrict competition – is illegal under the federal and Mississippi antitrust laws,” says the lawsuit, filed by Gulfport attorneys Adam Harris and John P. McMackin.
Perillo bought a home in the city to use all or part as short-term rental, the lawsuit says, but the city’s ordinances have prevented her from doing so. The lawsuit does not say where the home is located. A city ordinance now prohibits short-term rentals in residential areas.
The lawsuit represents only one side of the case. The city had not yet received a copy of the lawsuit or had time to file a response. When the Sun Herald notified the city about the lawsuit Wednesday and requested a comment, a representative said that Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich was out of the country until next week.
On Thursday, the city emailed the Sun Herald a statement that says: “Our short-term rental ordinances have been in place for several years and are based on similar regulations in other cities. (Perillo) is looking to put a short-term rental in a residential neighborhood. It appears that Airbnb is trying to have no rules for these types of neighborhoods and allow short-term rentals.”
Airbnb and Perillo are seeking unspecified damages, along with penalties. They also want presiding U.S. District Court Judge Taylor B. McNeel to declare two Biloxi short-term rental ordinances an unlawful restraint on trade and order the city to stop enforcing them.
Lawsuit details alleged Biloxi conspiracy
As evidence of a conspiracy, the lawsuit says Biloxi Councilman Kenny Glavan has supported Airbnb restrictions, and voted for them, while working as a hotel executive. He describes himself as “a 25-year hospitality professional,” the lawsuit says, and was named Mississippi’s Hotel Manager of the Year in 2009.
He has worked since 2017 as area director of Biloxi Lodging LLC, his LinkedIn profile says. Glavan could not be reached immediately to comment on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also points out that one of the ordinances the City Council adopted requires that the lodging association be notified of all applications for short-term rentals.
The lodging association is treated “as equivalent to legitimate government regulators,” the lawsuit says.
A sentence from one of the ordinances is quoted as evidence: “Specifically, the permit application states, in bold, italicized, and underlined letters: ‘Upon accepting any short-term rental application, the city of Biloxi will notify the Hotel & Lodging Association, State Department of Revenue, (and) Harrison County tax assessor to make them cognizant of the intention of establishing a short-term rental facility at the location offered.’ ”
A January 2016 ordinance that the city passed “sharply restricts” where short-term rentals can operate, the lawsuit says, forbidding them in “large swaths of the city.” The ordinance also imposes other requirements on short-term rentals.
In December 2023, the City Council passed another ordinance capping conditional-use permits for short-term rentals at 75.
The lawsuit says that Glavan, who is president of the lodging association, voted for both ordinances rather than recusing himself because of a potential conflict of interest.
As a result of the conspiracy, the lawsuit says, hotel guests are paying higher prices.
“By preventing and restricting would-be competitors from entering the travel lodging market, the conspiracy between Biloxi and the HLA helps maintain higher prices for existing industry incumbents,” the lawsuit says. “As a result, consumers face higher prices, less choice, and lower quality offerings than they would without Biloxi’s unlawful restrictions” against short-term rentals.
This story was originally published November 13, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
