NEW YORK - A Midtown landlord must pay the largest financial penalty stemming from an Airbnb lawsuit. 

City officials say Salim Assa has 30 days to give $1.2 million to the city as a part of his settlement.

The lawsuit has gone on for three years after authorities say apartments in his four buildings were rented as illegal hotel rooms.

Assa will be able to keep his four buildings on West 55th and West 46th streets, but only if he hires a professional property manager to collect the rent for the next three years. 

An attorney for Assa said in a statement that Assa was unaware of and had no control of the tenants' actions.

"While he admits no wrongdoing and strongly disputed the city’s allegations, he’s happy to reach an amicable resolution in order to put the matter behind him," the attorney's statement reads, in part.

In October 2016, New York State made it illegal to rent an empty apartment for less than 30 days. 

If you want to rent your home as an AirBnB in the city, you need to live there or be present for the duration of your guest's stay.