Now you must all understand that The Chicago Sun-Times is nothing more than a tabloid, and is not to be taken seriously. However, this story was pulled off the AP. On Page 4: (Note: punctuation and grammar are not mine, but are transcribed)
SEX-FOR-HOUSING ADS IN TICKLISH TERRITORY
Dan Goodin (allegedly a staff writer)
SAN FRANCISCO - In Atlanta, an online ad offers a room in exchange for "sex and light office duty." In Los Angeles, a one-bedroom pool house is free "to a girl that is skilled and willing." And in New York City. a $700-a-month room is available at a discount to a fit female willing to provide sex.
On the widely used Web site Craigslist.org, some landlords and apartment dwellers looking for roommates are offering to accept sex in lieu of rent.
"They have to be attractive. I don't let just anybody come into my house," said Mike, a man who answered the phone at the New York City listing but declined to give his last name - and refused to say whether he has, in fact, collcted the rent under the sheets.
"I usually rent the room for 600, but if you are really ticklish willing to trade being tickled for the extra rent then we have a deal," writes a gay man offering a $350-a-month room in the San Francisco Bay area.
"A FORM OF VOYEURISM"
Trading housing for sex is a form of prostitution. But the police aren't kicking down doors.
Paul J. Browne, a deputy police commissioner in New York, said investigators have found that the Craigslist ads are frequently "little more than a form of voyeurism that didn't result in an actual exchange of sex for rent."
Craigslist provides mostly free classifieds for apartments, used cars and just about everything else in more than 200 cities and 35 countries.
Jim Buckmaster, chief executive of San Francisco-based Craigslist, said the company forbids ads that break the law, but his staff of 19 can't police all postings. Craigslist insead relies on users to flag ads they find offensive. If enough people agree, the ad is removed.
"Tens of millions of users are a much more powerful force in examining the more than 8 million classified ads per month than any staff could be," Buckmaster said.
Tenants rights groups have acused Craigslist of skirting fair housing requirements. In February, a Chicago group sued the Web site foe publishing housing ads that excluded people based on their race, religion and gender.
SEX-FOR-HOUSING ADS IN TICKLISH TERRITORY
Dan Goodin (allegedly a staff writer)
SAN FRANCISCO - In Atlanta, an online ad offers a room in exchange for "sex and light office duty." In Los Angeles, a one-bedroom pool house is free "to a girl that is skilled and willing." And in New York City. a $700-a-month room is available at a discount to a fit female willing to provide sex.
On the widely used Web site Craigslist.org, some landlords and apartment dwellers looking for roommates are offering to accept sex in lieu of rent.
"They have to be attractive. I don't let just anybody come into my house," said Mike, a man who answered the phone at the New York City listing but declined to give his last name - and refused to say whether he has, in fact, collcted the rent under the sheets.
"I usually rent the room for 600, but if you are really ticklish willing to trade being tickled for the extra rent then we have a deal," writes a gay man offering a $350-a-month room in the San Francisco Bay area.
"A FORM OF VOYEURISM"
Trading housing for sex is a form of prostitution. But the police aren't kicking down doors.
Paul J. Browne, a deputy police commissioner in New York, said investigators have found that the Craigslist ads are frequently "little more than a form of voyeurism that didn't result in an actual exchange of sex for rent."
Craigslist provides mostly free classifieds for apartments, used cars and just about everything else in more than 200 cities and 35 countries.
Jim Buckmaster, chief executive of San Francisco-based Craigslist, said the company forbids ads that break the law, but his staff of 19 can't police all postings. Craigslist insead relies on users to flag ads they find offensive. If enough people agree, the ad is removed.
"Tens of millions of users are a much more powerful force in examining the more than 8 million classified ads per month than any staff could be," Buckmaster said.
Tenants rights groups have acused Craigslist of skirting fair housing requirements. In February, a Chicago group sued the Web site foe publishing housing ads that excluded people based on their race, religion and gender.
