New York’s Local Law 18 just went live

Yesterday, a new law very creatively called Local Law 18 went into effect in New York City. And it’s set to heavily impact the city’s short-term housing/apartment rental market, leading Airbnb to refer to the new law as a “de facto ban” on the company.

Local Law 18 stipulates that:

• No more than two paying guests can stay in a short-term rental (defined as less than 30 days) at a time, no matter the size.
• Hosts must be physically present while their properties are being rented.
• Hosts and visitors must leave every door inside the dwelling unlocked, so occupants can access the entire unit.

The new law is already having an impact. Short-term rentals, or “illegal hotels” as NYC officials refer to them, have technically been illegal in the city this whole time – but the law was difficult to enforce.

Local Law 18 flips that on its head, putting the onus on short-term rental platforms (Airbnb, Vrbo, etc.) to remove illegal listings, in addition to requiring landlords to submit their units for approval prior to receiving any short-term rent money. There’s no requirement or potential liability for renters.

• As of August 28, the city office responsible for granting short-term rental permits had received 3,250 applications, putting the stamp of approval on 257 of those. Before Labor Day, 10,000+ “entire apartment/home” Airbnb listings in NYC offered availability for bookings shorter than the one-month threshold.

+Dive deeper: Regulations pertaining to short-term rentals have been increasingly popping up in major metro areas.