But truth be told, NYC registered more than 10,000 illegal short-term listings operating within the city listings in recent years. For this and many other reasons, the city reinforced the regulations, thus, these listings will be affected or in other words, removed. 

If you want to know more about the NYC short-term rental law, keep reading as we dive deeper into the new restrictions and how they affect Airbnb hosts and guests alike!

New Airbnb Rules in New York City

As of September 5th, NYC began the enforcement of regulations requiring that all eligible hosts of short-term rentals must either be registered with the city or possess Class B status to continue offering holiday accommodations.

Yet, it must be noted that NYC adopted Local Law 18 on January 9, 2022. This law mandates that short-term rental hosts must register with the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement (OSE). At the same time, it prohibits booking service platforms (Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, etc.) from processing transactions for unregistered STR listings. The Local 18 Law applies only to listings that are rented for less than 30 days.

Requirements to comply with the rules:

• Register with the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement (OSE).
• Hosts that meet the requirements for short-term rentals, can apply for registration via the STRR portal. The application fee is $145.
• They must provide the following information:
  • Full legal name, current phone number. 
  • The applicant must inform if they are the tenant or owner of the dwelling unit.
  • The STR property’s physical address where short-term rental, including street number, street name, zip code, borough, and unit number where there is more than one dwelling unit in the building.
  • An email address that will be used to receive communication from the administering agency.
  • Type of dwelling unit (e.g., single-family building, apartment in a two-family building, etc).
  • The number of individuals not related by blood, adoption, legal guardianship, marriage or domestic partnership that reside with the registrant in the unit.
  • The uniform resource locator or listing identifier and the associated booking service name for all existing listings of the dwelling unit.
• Applicant must also provide a copy of the following documents:
  • Driver’s license or State-issued ID;
  • U.S. Passport or U.S. Passport card;
  • U.S. Military ID;
  • Permanent Resident Card or Employment Authorization card issued by the United States Government;
  • A foreign passport or driver’s license;
  • IDNYC card; or
  • Other forms of proof that the administering agency determines are acceptable
• Registrations should be renewed on the online registration portal accessible through the administering agency’s website. Renewals will be accepted beginning 180 days before the expiration of a host’s current registration.
• Booking platforms (Airbnb, Vrbo, etc.) are required to ensure that all users on their platforms in New York adhere to the city’s regulations.

If the application is approved, the department will issue a registration number that must appear on the host’s online listing.

Some of the restrictions include:

• Registered hosts are not allowed to give the rentee exclusive access to the rented unit. A short-term rental can only be rented if the host is physically present in the property. 
• The STR cannot have more than two paying guests and they must have access to the entire unit.
• The OSE maintains a Prohibited Building List, where short-term rentals are prohibited, either due to legal restrictions (e.g. NYCHA or entire rent-regulated buildings) or because of specific lease and occupancy agreements within a building. You can check if an address is already included on the Prohibited Building List here.

Hosts that do not abide by the new legislation will face fines that go up to $5,000. Moreover, platforms could face fines of up to $1,500 for transactions involving illegal rentals.