As travel begins to rebound ahead of what will likely be a busy summer season, Airbnb is warning San Diego and other cities around the world that it will not tolerate parties in short-term rentals until at least the end of this summer.
In an announcement it made on Thursday, the online sharing platform said it was extending the global ban on parties it imposed last August at a time when the pandemic was spreading and coronavirus infections COVID-19 were on the rise.
“At the time of the August 2020 policy change, COVID-19 cases were skyrocketing and vaccines were yet to be approved. As we said then and still believe today, this indefinite ban was in the best interest of public health,” the company said in its extension announcement. “While public health concerns were paramount, other important factors drove our implementation of the party ban. As our CEO Brian Chesky said recently regarding the party ban: “We want to be really good community players all over the world.”
News of the extended holiday ban comes just before the Memorial Day holiday, when locals and strangers alike will gather for the long weekend. Airbnb said it decided to extend the ban after hearing people question whether it would remain in effect.
Airbnb said that in addition to providing clarity to its community, it wanted to reinforce the message that “we will not tolerate behavior that disrupts neighborhoods or violates the trust of our host community.” In late summer 2021, we will provide another update on the future of the policy.
Given the upcoming holiday weekend, Airbnb said it also wanted to use the announcement as an opportunity to remind hosts and guests to follow local public health laws and guidelines related to COVID-19. 19. San Diego County is still operating under state rules governing indoor gatherings, but those will mostly disappear once California fully reopens on June 15.
To help guard against guests planning to book rentals for parties, Airbnb removed its “event-friendly” search filter and all “parties and events allowed” house rules from listings. It also continues to maintain an occupancy cap of 16 people.
“Ahead of Memorial Day weekend, we want to make it clear that those who violate Airbnb’s rules or San Diego’s public health rules risk suspensions or bans from our platform, and even potentially legal action.” said the company.
Airbnb said it also continues to enforce an ongoing policy banning party homes, which it characterizes as those that have received complaints or violated Airbnb’s policies on parties and events. Last August, he announced that It had suspended or removed 17 San Diego County properties from its online platform. They were scattered throughout the county, from Escondido and La Mesa to several neighborhoods in San Diego.
It’s unclear, however, how many more have been removed from Airbnb’s website. A company spokesperson said it was unable to provide an update on the number of suspended listings as of Thursday.
In San Diego, the city attorney’s office has carried out its own crackdown on party homes and last year cited the owners of two homes – one in Bankers Hill and the other in La Jolla – for having organized big noisy parties. Settlements have since been reached with the owners.
The City of San Diego only recently passed a set of regulations governing short-term rentals, an issue it has struggled with for years. However, they will not come into force until July next year. The new law not only limits the number of whole-home rentals that can operate in the city, but it sets up a system for authorizing them and enforcing public nuisance laws.
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