Home rental app Airbnb announced new anti-party technology last week that will be used in Florida and across the United States — and for the “vacation rental capital of the world” that is Florida County. ‘Osceola, this could mean big changes.
This new technology is designed to help identify “potentially high-risk bookings, block those bookings from going through, and prevent those users from taking advantage of our platform,” according to a press release from the popular short-lived vacation rental company. term.
The announcement follows news in June that the previously temporary ban on parties will become codified policy. In Osceola County, similar blockages have occurred before, such as last year’s New Year’s Eve blockage on some single-night bookings of whole-home listings in Kissimmee and Orlando, for customers without a history of positive reviews on the platform. In Florida, the company says it has seen a 67% year-over-year drop in party reports since the temporary policy was introduced in 2020.
Large events at Airbnb rentals in Osceola County have already resulted in law enforcement actions, such as an October 2020 out-of-control event that was investigated by a Sheriff’s Office saturation unit of Osceola County, where seven occupied residences and 10 vehicles were shot. to, according to earlier reports from the News-Gazette.
There are a few different factors the tech looks at to determine if a reservation is “high risk” or not.
“This system looks at factors such as positive review history (or lack of positive reviews), how long the guest has been on Airbnb, length of trip, distance to listing, weekend versus weekday, among many others,” per the Airbnb site. “The primary goal is to attempt to reduce the ability of bad actors to host unauthorized parties that negatively impact our guests, neighbors and the communities we serve.”
Sheriff saturation patrols have increased on the west side of the county – home to many vacation rental properties – after a number of incidents in 2020 and early 2021, at a time when bars and clubs were closed during the pandemic, or heavily guarded for crowd size, and house parties have become a popular way to get around some of those rules.
Saturation patrols – and busts of dozens of people per party for things like illegal firearms, drugs, disorderly conduct and warrants for prior incidents – increased after noise complaints from neighbors became routine.
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