New York City Airbnb Hosts Can No Longer Host Families & Must Register With The City Under New Law

New York City is cracking down on the short-term rental industry, officially rolling out restrictions on Airbnbs.

On Tuesday, the new regulations went into effect, which will likely put an end to thousands of short-term renters within the city. Under the recent ruling, known as Local Law 18, all short-term rental property owners who intend on hosting guests for under 30 days must register with the city. Additionally, the properties may only host two people at a time, essentially banning family stays. The host is required to live at the residence during the duration of their visitor’s stay. Any guest must be granted access to the entire space of their living quarters, which has been a point of debate for years among renters and guests. Several Airbnb customers have complained of being filmed without their consent and being barred from accessing certain parts of their rental, which demonstrates a lack of transparency.

Per The Guardian, Local Law 18 is intended to end the wave of unlawful short-term rentals throughout the city. Hosting services are now barred from allowing landlords to post their rentals without proof of city registration. Typically, this will be a verifiable registration number. As of this week, New York City has received nearly 4,000 applications, though under 300 have been approved. Housing activists have praised the move, while Airbnb has fought these measures. Several hosts have also slammed the local government for unfairly targeting those who use short-term rentals to make extra income.

At the beginning of this year, there were over 38,000 short-term listings for NYC on the platform.