WASHINGTON — Airbnb, the short-term rental platform, announced Tuesday its plans of banning parties permanently.
The company had set a temporary ban on all parties and event listings in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic when people shifted from clubs to renting houses to party. Other guidelines set were a 24/7 neighborhood support hotline, a 16-person guest cap and restrictions on guests under 25.
"The temporary ban has proved effective, and today we are officially codifying the ban as our policy," the company said in a press release.
While permanently writing those restrictions in their policy, the company announced it would drop the 16 guest occupancy cap.
Over 6,600 guests were suspended from the platform for violating the no-party rule in 2021, according to Airbnb's press release. The company said its seen a 44%-year-over-year drop in the rate of party reports since enacting the ban.
Airbnb began to crack down on parties in 2019 after a fatal shooting at a party in a house in California, according to the Associated Press. As part of their initiative to target "party houses," the company partnered with Vrbo, another short-term rental service, on repeat "party house" offenders in the U.S.
In May, Airbnb announced a "holiday anti-party" measure blocking certain single-night or two-night reservations for some guests without a history of positive reviews, which will affect this year's July 4 weekend.