The city of New Orleans sent out more than 400 notices of short-term rental infractions to 382 addresses since May 1.
The city is preparing to manage permitting and infractions of ordinances room rentals and whole home using sites such as Airbnb, according to an article by Chelsea Brasted for The Times-Picayune.
The new ordinances were passed in December to crack down on short-term rental companies such as Airbnb, VRBO and HomeAway.
From the article:
Airbnb faced a June 1 deadline to remove improperly licensed listings from its website, but as NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune reported Wednesday (June 7), there still seem to be kinks in the system as the New Orleans ordinances go into effect. This week, Airbnb searches showed dozens of homes offering occupancy at numbers higher than the maximum 10 people the city allows, as well as listings with occupancy ratings that didn't match their city licenses.
The city has staff observing different locations to determine if there could be short-term rentals going on in the house, as well as searching the websites.
From the article:
Still, Munster said, the city has no power over websites such as Airbnb to demand they remove listings, though he said the team is informing them if a license has been revoked. The city also doesn't yet have a full process in place for issuing administrative subpoenas — which would allow them to pinpoint exact locations of properties listed online — though they expect to have one nailed down within the "next couple of weeks."
HousingWire Magazine’s September edition focused on Airbnb’s disruption of the housing market, and more specifically, the housing shortages it’s causing in New Orleans. Read more about that here (HousingWire subscribers only).
