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A new NYC law coming into effect today might erase thousands of short-term Airbnb listings, according to Gothamist.
Last year, NYC passed a law that requires landlords to register with the city in order to maintain their listings on Airbnb, Vrbo or other rental sites. Those who don’t could be fined as much as $5,000, the law states. This means that listings that don’t register won’t be legal in NYC.
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According to The Real Deal, other new changes under the new law include a limit on guests (short-term rentals can only accommodate two paying guests at a time); a requirement that hosts must be physically present while their properties are being rented; and that all interior doors within the rental are unlocked, allowing occupants access to the entire unit.
This would likely nullify thousands of listings across NYC that are for stays of 30 days or fewer.
The mayor’s office says it will “focus on collaborating with the booking platforms to ensure they are using the city’s verification system, that all verifications are occurring correctly, and that the platforms stop processing unverified transactions.”
The point of the law is to stop illegal short-term rentals, make rentals safer for guests and alleviate housing market pressures (some proponents of the law say it’ll release units to the residential rental market).
The highly controversial law could drive people away from short-term rental platforms like Airbnb and into hotels, shared spaces or, god forbid, New Jersey. I mean, can you imagine staying in an Airbnb with your partner and the stranger-host is in the next room behind an unlocked door? Forget girls’ weekends away where everyone shares a space together. Only two of you could stay in one rental with host Joe Shmoe.
“New York City’s new short-term rental rules are a blow to its tourism economy and the thousands of New Yorkers and small businesses in the outer boroughs who rely on home sharing and tourism dollars to help make ends meet,” Theo Yedinsky, Airbnb’s global policy director, told Gothamist. “The city is sending a clear message to millions of potential visitors who will now have fewer accommodation options when they visit New York City: You are not welcome.”
Airbnb filed a lawsuit to fight the new law but a judge dismissed it in August, The Real Deal says.
All that being said, others think this will help the current housing crisis in NYC by forcing would-be hosts to list their apartments on the rental market, hopefully driving down rental prices with the influx of units.
“We are feeling very, very good about where we are right now,” Michael McKee of the Tenants Political Action Committee told Gothamist. “We have worked for more than a decade to get a law on the books of this nature.”
So what does this mean for those staying in a short-term rental? Airbnb will honor reservations made before today for stays through December 1, refunding the service fee. After that date, Airbnb will cancel and refund reservations at uncertified properties.
According to The Real Deal, Airbnb and its hosts, are trying to work with local officials to pass a less-restrictive version of the measure.