New York City Finally Proposes Strict New Regulations for Airbnb Rentals

New York City "is pressing ahead with a long-anticipated crackdown on Airbnb hosts," reports the New York Post, "with officials on Friday proposing a strict new registration system for hosts that will take effect in January." There's 30 pages of rules...Under proposed rules that were quietly and unexpectedly made public on Friday - which will, among other things, prohibit hosts from renting out an "entire registered dwelling unit" - Airbnb hosts will be required to submit diagrams of their apartments as well as proof that their listings are permanent residences. Hosts also will be required to list the "full legal name of all permanent occupants of the dwelling" as well as their relationship to the host.... If hosts fail to comply, they can be fined up to $5,000 under the new rules, while Airbnb and other platforms are required to verify the rental on its systems and could be on the hook for a $1,500 fine per violation. Last year, the city council passed the registration law, but little was known about the details and requirements, which will become effective Jan. 9 and enforced by May 9.... Among the requirements, said the source, is one that bars hosts from putting locks on doors that separate the guest from the host, directing that "a registered host shall not allow a rentee to have exclusive access to a separate room within a dwelling" and specifying that, for example, "providing the rentee with a key to lock the door when such rentee is not in the dwelling is prohibited...." It's the latest salvo in the fraught relationship between New York City and Airbnb, which has long pushed back on the city's efforts to regulate the industry. Meanwhile the city blames Airbnb, in part, for its housing shortage. Thanks to Slashdot reader quonset for submitting the story!

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