New York City authorities will begin to enforce new regulations limiting the ability of residents to rent out their homes through platforms like Airbnb, starting on Tuesday, reports the New York Times.
These measures could make thousands of local Brooklyn listings disappear from the many short-term rental sites active in the borough, like Airbnb, VRBO and Booking.com.
Supporters of the new regulations say short-term rental platforms fueled the housing shortage and hiked rents, but critics of the new regulations say these changes will result in a ban on cheaper options for visitors and are a result of hotel industry lobbyists.
What are the new regulations?
NYC officials say the City’s current laws prevent people from renting out homes to guests for less than 30 days (unless the host is present for the duration of the stay) and that no more than two guests are allowed in the house at a time. Also, guests must have access to the entire home for the entire stay.
In a July 2023 court filing, a city official claimed more than half of Airbnb’s $85 million net revenue in 2022 from NYC rentals came from illegal activity, but Airbnb disagrees with that number.
Under the new regulations, hosts must register with the city to be permitted to rent on a short-term basis. And, in order to collect fees from these rentals, all short-term rental companies must ensure the city approves each short-term rental application.
Hosts who violate the rules could owe the city up to $5,000 for repeat offenders, and platforms could be fined as much as $1,500 for each illegal transaction.
