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I’ve been hearing from a lot of hosts in NY that they’re scrambling and panicking to apply for licenses (if they even qualify) or figure out a way to still keep bookings with the changes.
I’m curious how NY hosts are dealing with this situation? Are you cancelling bookings, deciding to risk the potential fine or something in the middle? It would be great for you to share your ideas so other hosts struggling with the same can see what options they have.
For those who still want to keep hosting, this might be a good time to think about driving direct bookings, especially for those guests who had already booked through Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com etc and you need to cancel. Since you already have their contact info, reach out to them and say that you will honor the booking and share your direct booking website link with them to process the payment.
If anyone doesn’t have a direct booking website, you can use Dtravel to set one up for free. You can also add $5M in damage protection for only $12/booking to make sure you’re still protected from guest damages even if booking direct. Free guest screening is included with every booking.
For those not in NY or in other regulation challenged jurisdictions, it may only be a matter of time before this happens in your area. Definitely consider diversifying your business with direct bookings so you’re not left high and dry should this happen in your city!
It’s interesting that you are the first to bring up this topic in the forum. I agree that anyone with an Airbnb in a city should be concerned with what’s happening in New York City. I’ve had to sell my building and will be off airbnb on September 5
I understand the need to regulate these properties in NYC because many are folks renting out on Airbnb an apartment in a building without consent from the landlord. Landlords are fed up! and so are the neighbors. It would be different if it was the owner of a stand alone house or town house but many are apartments in buildings.
I joined late in the game. I only started airbnb at the end of April 2023. I have a private bedroom listed & shared living room for 2 guests listed. My house has 2 units so I was thinking I can rearrange the space in the 2nd unit to host 1 or 2 more guests but, I can’t. Starting September, the maximum guests is 2. While I’m happy I got approved to continue the STR, I’m upset at the 2 guests max.
I would be cautious on this topic, as it appears there is no exemption from the NYC law for direct booking hosts.
Per an NYC gov site: “Property owners can and will be issued the violation for any illegal short-term rentals at their property – even if it is conducted by tenants.” So the city is leveraging landlords as an enforcement tool. It appears that landlords can add their buildings to an official city list of properties where short term rentals are prohibited.
This is a fairly visible activity. The gov site has a phone number and an online complaint form " Do you suspect illegal short-term rental activity in your neighborhood? Call 311 or submit a complaint online."
Agreed! I’m shocked that there haven’t been any topics about this given how huge of an issue it is. So sorry to hear about your situation .
Here are some shocking stats from WSJ:
Airbnb estimated 5,300 existing reservations would be affected in the first week of enforcement, according to an August legal filing. There are more than 40,500 short-term rental stays in New York City beginning on or after Sept. 5.
Suffice to say, a lot of people, both hosts and guests will be severely affected with barely any notice and I hope that this thread might provide some ideas and relief to anyone going through this in NY or any other cities where the same thing is happening. As others have pointed out, some people might be doing this without the rights to do so but many others are legitimate and are now scrambling.
As we are an Airbnb one Xpress Metro North train stop from Manhattan, and 2 miles from the border, this is wonderful news. We are an old-school style Airbnb hosting out of our home, and hope this will improve and increase our bookings. Plus, it will improve the quality of Airbnb‘s in the area since many of the bookings in apartment buildings were lowballing.
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