By Adam Lindenbaum and Collin Chipetine
For the first time in their decadelong campaign against tenant abuses of the short-term
rental industry, New York City landlords should soon have the upper hand when it comes
to saying who can turn their properties into vacation homes.
Beginning Jan. 9, 2023, strict new regulations, along with a hefty set of financial penalties,
will become effective in what could be a slam dunk over one of the city’s most
unregulated industries.
Millions of apartments will be barred from ever becoming short-term rentals and, with the
city’s Office of Special Enforcement primed to police the new streamlined rules, thousands
of units operating illegally can be shut down.
Almost one year ago, on Dec. 9, 2021, the New York City Council passed Introductory Bill
No. 2309-A to curb illegal short-term rental activity throughout the city by setting forth
strict preregistration, advertising and record-keeping requirements for rental hosts.
First introduced by Councilman Ben Kallos, Bill No. 2309-A was enacted into law Jan. 9 as
Local Law 18 when the bill was returned unsigned by Mayor Eric Adams without a veto.
Local Law 18 adds Sections 26-3101 through 26-3105 to the New York City Administrative
Code that will become effective Jan. 9, 2023, with the penalties to be imposed under the
law not effective until May 9, 2023.
The focus of the bill’s authors, Kallos, Tenants PAC and the Coalition Against Illegal Hotels, was a
concentrated effort toward mitigating the spike in short-term rentals across New York as online
platforms such as Airbnb.com and VRBO.com continued to grow in both revenue and reach across New York City.
Local Law 18 aims to restore the city’s stock of affordable housing to permanent residents rather than allow them to be exploited by enterprising tenants who list their apartments illegally on various online platforms, and through word-of-mouth networks
