Airbnb Is Encouraging Neighbors to Snitch on Parties

Airbnb is apparently very serious about cracking down on house parties: In a new blog post, the short-term rental site announced a “party prevention system” in effect for both Memorial Day and Fourth of July holiday weekends, which includes a hotline for neighbors to use if they believe a party at an Airbnb rental is in progress.

“With summer fast approaching, and 300 million guest arrivals expected on Airbnb this year, we are bringing in measures across the US to help reduce the risk of disruptive and unauthorized parties,” as the blog notes.

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From there, Airbnb outlines a number of steps they’re taking to disrupt any party plans, similar to what the company did last year. Among those:

Identifying “potentially higher-risk” one-night and two-night booking attempts by guests of entire home listings, and preventing those bookings from being made. The booking will take into account everything from guest history/reviews, the distance to the listing and when the booking was made.
An anti-party attestation that basically suspends or permanently expels guests from the platform if they break the anti-party rule.
A call to action for neighbors to report any concerns (basically, a party at a property that people belive is an Airbnb rental) via the company’s 24/7 Neighborhood Support Line

Airbnb banned parties starting back in 2020, and the company now claims just .039% of reservations result in an allegation of a party. Prior to the ban, Quartz reports that the company had dealt with everything from mass shootings to pop-up brothels and million-dollar property damage.