NYC Local Law 18: short-term rental registration rules

Last updated 2026-07-26

What is Local Law 18 of 2022?

Local Law 18 is New York City's short-term rental registration law. It took effect on January 9, 2023, and enforcement began September 5, 2023 ^[1]. The law requires anyone hosting a short-term rental, defined as a stay of fewer than 30 consecutive days, to register with the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement (OSE) before listing or booking that unit. The law didn't invent New York's restrictions on short-term rentals. State multiple dwelling law has barred whole-unit rentals under 30 days in buildings with three or more units since 2010, with narrow exceptions ^[1]. What Local Law 18 changed is enforcement. It created a registration system, gave OSE the power to verify listings, and cut off the payment pipeline by barring booking services from processing transactions for unregistered units. Think of it less as a new prohibition and more as the enforcement mechanism the city always lacked. Before 2023, thousands of listings operated in a gray zone because nobody was checking. Now the check happens at registration, and again every time a platform tries to process a booking. City Council's stated purpose was housing preservation. The Council found that illegal short-term rentals were removing housing stock from the long-term market and creating safety hazards in buildings not equipped for transient occupancy ^[1]. Whether you agree with that framing or not, it's the legal basis the law rests on.

Who has to register under Local Law 18?

You need to register if you host paid stays of fewer than 30 days in New York City, and you don't have a separate hotel or Class A operating certificate that exempts you. This covers the classic Airbnb host renting a spare room, a whole apartment while traveling, or a basement unit on a platform. There's a narrower group who legally can do a short-term rental without violating the underlying multiple dwelling law: the host must be a permanent resident of the unit, must be present during the guest's stay, and can host no more than two paying guests at a time ^[1]. Registration is required even for this legal category. It's more than for people breaking the underlying occupancy rules. Buildings with fewer than three units, meaning private houses, are generally not subject to the same multiple dwelling restrictions on short-term rentals that apply to larger buildings, but OSE's registration requirement under Local Law 18 still applies citywide with limited exemptions ^[1]. If you own a small multi-family building and rent out a unit short-term while you live in another unit in the building, you still need to check whether your specific setup qualifies, and you still need to register. Exemptions exist for certain licensed hotels, bed and breakfasts with a proper certificate of occupancy, and a few other narrow categories OSE lists on its registration guidance. If you're unsure which bucket you fall into, don't guess. Confirm with your city rental licensing office or OSE directly before you list anything.

How do you register a short-term rental with OSE?

Registration happens through OSE's online short-term rental registration portal. You'll need to provide your name, the unit address, proof you live there (like a lease or deed), and attestations that you meet the legal short-term rental conditions if you plan to host while present. OSE reviews applications and either approves, denies, or asks for more information. Approved hosts get a registration number, which platforms require before they can list or process payment for your unit. The registration itself has no city fee ^[1], which is unusual compared to most rental licensing programs where you're paying $50 to $500 to get through the door. Processing time isn't fixed by statute. OSE has stated it aims to process applications promptly, but real-world host reports and city guidance both suggest it can take several weeks, especially during periods of high volume. Don't book a stay based on when you expect approval. Wait for the registration number in hand. Once registered, you're expected to keep your information current. If you move, sell the unit, or stop hosting, update or cancel the registration. Letting a stale registration sit active while you no longer meet the qualifying conditions creates exposure if OSE later audits the listing.

What can booking platforms like Airbnb do now under Local Law 18?

Booking platforms are legally barred from completing transactions for New York City short-term rental listings unless the host has a valid OSE registration number attached to the listing. This is the enforcement teeth of the law. Local Law 18 requires platforms to verify registration status before processing a booking and to share data with OSE on a regular basis ^[1]. Airbnb fought this in court and lost. The company sued the city, arguing the law was an unconstitutional taking and violated platform speech rights; a federal judge denied Airbnb's request for a preliminary injunction in August 2023, and the law took effect as scheduled ^[2]. Airbnb has publicly said the law functions as a de facto ban on short-term rentals in the city, since it estimates only a small share of former listings met the strict eligibility conditions. In practice, this means the listing volume in New York City on major platforms dropped sharply after enforcement began in September 2023. If you're a host who lists on multiple platforms, know that every platform operating in NYC is bound by the same registration-verification requirement, more than Airbnb. Listing on a smaller or newer platform doesn't get you around the law.

What happens if you don't register your short-term rental?

Hosting unregistered can bring civil penalties. OSE and the city can pursue fines against hosts operating illegal short-term rentals, and separately against platforms that process bookings for unregistered listings. Under the enforcement structure built around Local Law 18 and the underlying multiple dwelling law, penalties for illegal transient use of a dwelling unit can reach into the thousands of dollars per violation, with repeat violations escalating ^{[1] [3]}. Specific fine amounts and escalation schedules are set by the applicable code sections and can change, so don't rely on any single number as gospel. As a general reference point, illegal short-term rental violations under city and state enforcement frameworks have carried penalties that commonly run from roughly $1,000 to $5,000 depending on whether it's a first offense or a repeat one ^[3]. Confirm current amounts with your city rental licensing office or OSE before assuming a specific dollar figure applies to your situation. Beyond fines, an unregistered listing simply can't take bookings on major platforms anymore. That's often the more immediate consequence: no fine notice, just an inability to get paid. Hosts who tried to work around this by taking payment off-platform (cash, Venmo, direct deposit) still expose themselves to the underlying multiple dwelling law violation and fines, they've just removed the platform as a compliance checkpoint, not removed the legal risk.

How does Local Law 18 relate to New York's multiple dwelling law?

Local Law 18 is a registration and enforcement law. The actual prohibition on short-term whole-unit rentals in most multi-family buildings comes from New York State's Multiple Dwelling Law, particularly the class A dwelling occupancy rules amended in 2010 (often called the 2010 amendment or the anti-Airbnb law informally) ^[1]. Under that state law, a Class A multiple dwelling (generally a building with three or more residential units, intended for permanent residence) can't be rented for transient or hotel-type occupancy of fewer than 30 days, with narrow exceptions for when the permanent occupant is present, hosting no more than two guests, and not receiving any specific additional payment for things like cleaning that create a hotel-like service arrangement. So the two laws stack. The state law says what's allowed. The city's Local Law 18 says you have to register with OSE and get verified before a platform can process your booking, even for the arrangements the state law does allow. Skipping registration doesn't just risk a Local Law 18 penalty, it also means you have no paper trail showing you were operating within the state law's exception if OSE or a court ever asks.

What is landlording, and how is a short-term rental host different from a landlord?

Landlording means owning residential property and renting it out, handling tenant relationships, maintenance, rent collection, and legal compliance in the process. A landlord typically has a lease with a tenant lasting months or years and is subject to landlord-tenant law: security deposit rules, habitability standards, and eviction procedures. A short-term rental host under Local Law 18 is doing something legally distinct. Guests booking a stay of a few days generally aren't tenants in the landlord-tenant sense, they're more like hotel guests, and the legal framework governing the relationship (consumer protection, transient occupancy rules, platform terms of service) is different from a residential lease. This distinction matters because some hosts assume tenant protections and eviction procedures apply to a guest who overstays a short-term booking. They generally don't, though the specific facts and duration of stay can shift how a court treats the situation, so this is exactly the kind of edge case where getting actual legal advice matters rather than assuming either direction. If you're considering shifting from long-term to short-term rental of a unit, or the reverse, you're more than changing a business model, you're changing which body of law governs the relationship entirely. If you're new to renting property out generally and want the basics on what landlording involves day to day, see our guide on landlord landlords.

What rights do tenants have without a lease, and how does that intersect with short-term rentals?

A tenant without a written lease, sometimes called a tenant-at-will or month-to-month tenant, still generally has legal protections under state and local landlord-tenant law, including the right to proper notice before eviction, the right to a habitable unit, and protection from illegal lockouts, even without a signed document ^[4]. In New York City specifically, occupants who have lived somewhere long enough (generally 30 days or more, per state law) start accumulating tenant rights even absent a formal lease ^[2]. This is directly relevant to short-term rental compliance. If a host lets a guest stay for an extended period, even informally, that guest can start to look like a tenant in the eyes of the law rather than a short-term guest, regardless of what the booking platform calls the transaction. New York courts have looked at factors like length of stay, whether the person moved in belongings, and whether they treated the unit as a primary residence. This is one more reason Local Law 18's 30-day line matters so much. Cross it, intentionally or not, and you may have created a tenancy with real eviction procedure requirements, not a guest checkout. Hosts sometimes try to solve a problematic long-staying guest by treating it like a hotel checkout. That can backfire badly if the guest has, legally, become a tenant. For general background on what protections exist even without a lease, see our page on tenants rights and tenant rights.

Why do landlords require renters insurance, and does it apply to short-term hosts?

Landlords commonly require renters insurance because it shifts liability for a tenant's personal property loss and certain injury claims away from the landlord's own policy, and it reduces disputes after fires, water damage, or theft. It's not a universal legal requirement in most states, it's a lease condition a landlord chooses to impose, though some cities and some subsidized housing programs do mandate it. For short-term rental hosts, the equivalent isn't renters insurance from a guest, it's host liability coverage. Airbnb and similar platforms provide limited host protection programs, but these have exclusions and caps, and many standard homeowner's or landlord policies exclude short-term rental use entirely unless you've added an endorsement or a specific short-term rental rider ^[5]. This is one of the most commonly overlooked compliance gaps: a host registers with OSE, follows the occupancy rules, and still discovers after a guest injury that their regular homeowner's policy denied the claim because they never disclosed short-term rental activity to their insurer. If you're operating (or considering operating) a short-term rental in a city with registration requirements like NYC's, call your insurance carrier before your first booking, not after an incident. Ask specifically whether your policy covers short-term rental use, and get any exclusion language in writing.

What can a landlord or inspector look at during a rental inspection?

Inspection scope depends on which program is inspecting and why. City rental licensing inspections (separate from Local Law 18, since NYC's registration law doesn't itself mandate a home inspection) generally check smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, egress windows, electrical safety, heating systems, and general housing maintenance code compliance ^[6]. A landlord doing their own walkthrough before a tenant moves in typically documents existing damage, tests appliances, and confirms locks and safety devices work. Who's responsible for a walkthrough inspection varies by state and situation. In many jurisdictions, including California, the landlord is required to offer an initial move-out inspection if the tenant requests one, so the tenant can fix issues before final deposit deductions are made; California Civil Code Section 1950.5 sets out this pre-move-out inspection right and requires the landlord to give the tenant a written itemized statement of deficiencies found ^[7]. This is a tenant-initiated right in California specifically, not a universal rule, so confirm your own state's requirements rather than assuming California's rule applies elsewhere. Inspectors generally cannot search personal belongings, open locked personal storage without cause, or conduct inspections without proper notice except in emergencies. What counts as fair game is the condition of the unit itself: walls, floors, fixtures, safety equipment, and signs of unauthorized occupants or hazards, not going through drawers or personal papers.

How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering or inspecting a unit?

Notice requirements vary significantly by state, generally running from 24 to 48 hours for routine, non-emergency entry, though a small number of jurisdictions specify different windows and some have no statutory minimum at all, leaving reasonableness as the standard ^[8]. New York doesn't have one single statewide statute setting a fixed notice period for all landlord entry the way California does, so the standard has developed more through lease terms and case law reasonableness than a bright-line number, which makes writing clear notice terms into the lease itself especially useful in New York. Emergencies (fire, flooding, gas leak, a report of someone in danger) are a standard exception in nearly every jurisdiction, allowing landlords to enter without advance notice. Absent an emergency, showing up unannounced for a routine inspection or repair is a common source of landlord-tenant friction and, in some states, a basis for a tenant complaint or even a rent reduction claim. If you're operating a rental in a city with registration or licensing requirements, and an inspection tied to that program is scheduled, the notice period for that specific inspection is usually spelled out in the city's rental licensing ordinance or the notice itself, separate from the general landlord-entry notice rule. Read the specific notice you received. Don't assume the general state rule and the city inspection program rule are the same number of days.

How do you become a landlord, and what does the process actually involve?

Becoming a landlord starts with acquiring rental property (buying, inheriting, or converting a primary residence) and then meeting your local jurisdiction's requirements to legally rent it out. In many cities, that means rental registration or licensing before you ever advertise a unit, plus compliance with fair housing law, security deposit statutes, and habitability codes. The practical steps most new landlords go through: confirm zoning and occupancy rules allow rental use, check whether your city requires a rental license or registration (a growing number do, and NYC's short-term rental registration under Local Law 18 is one specific version of this broader trend), get landlord liability insurance, prepare the unit to meet local housing code (smoke detectors, working locks, adequate heat), and understand your state's rules on security deposits, notice periods, and eviction procedure before you sign a first lease. Many new landlords underestimate the paperwork and compliance side and focus entirely on finding a tenant. That's backwards. Compliance failures (missing a rental license, skipping a required inspection, using an illegal lease clause) tend to be cheaper and easier to fix before you have a tenant in place than after. If you're just getting oriented, our overview on landlord basics walks through the core responsibilities before you list your first unit. This is also where a lot of small landlords, especially those with 1 to 10 units juggling multiple city rules, get tripped up. Building a simple compliance checklist specific to your city, before an inspector or a violation notice forces the issue, saves real money. That's the gap our $79 one-time City Rental License & Inspection Prep Packet is built to close: a starting point for the specific documents and steps your city's licensing office is likely to ask for.

What can't a landlord do, using Ohio as an example of state variation?

Ohio's landlord-tenant law, codified at Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5321, prohibits a landlord from retaliating against a tenant for exercising legal rights (like reporting a code violation), from unreasonably entering the unit, from shutting off utilities to force a tenant out, and from failing to maintain the unit in a fit and habitable condition . Ohio law also bars a landlord from including certain unenforceable clauses in a lease, such as ones waiving a tenant's right to sue or shifting responsibility for the landlord's own negligence onto the tenant. Ohio Revised Code 5321.04 specifically requires landlords to keep the premises in compliance with building and housing codes, keep common areas safe, maintain electrical, plumbing, and heating systems in good working order, and provide trash receptacles . A landlord who ignores these duties can face a tenant's claim for rent escrow or lease termination under the statute's remedy provisions. Ohio is one useful example precisely because its statute is specific and commonly cited, but every state has its own version of these prohibitions, and some cities layer additional rental licensing or inspection rules on top. If you're comparing what's allowed in your own state against a story you heard about Ohio (or New York, or California), don't assume the rules transfer. Look up your own state's landlord-tenant chapter, or check our renters rights overview for a starting framework.

Frequently asked questions

What is Local Law 18 of 2022 in simple terms?

It's New York City's law requiring anyone offering short-term rentals under 30 days to register with the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement before listing or accepting bookings. It took effect January 9, 2023, with enforcement starting September 5, 2023. Booking platforms can't process payment for unregistered listings, which is what makes the law effective in practice.

Does Local Law 18 apply to renting out a single room in my apartment?

Yes. Registration applies regardless of whether you're renting a whole unit or just a room, as long as the stay is under 30 days and payment is involved. You must also be a permanent resident of the unit and present during the stay, hosting no more than two paying guests, to meet the underlying state law's legal exception.

How much does it cost to register a short-term rental in NYC?

OSE's short-term rental registration itself has no city filing fee. Costs come from indirect requirements, like insurance adjustments, potential legal review of your building's certificate of occupancy, or lost booking revenue during the OSE review period, which can take several weeks.

What is the fine for an unregistered short-term rental in NYC?

Penalties vary by whether it's a first or repeat offense and which specific code section applies (Local Law 18 registration failure versus the underlying multiple dwelling law violation). Fines in this space have commonly ranged from roughly $1,000 to $5,000 per violation. Confirm current amounts with OSE, since penalty schedules can change.

Can I still list my NYC apartment on Airbnb after Local Law 18?

Only if you register with OSE, get approved, and meet the underlying eligibility conditions (permanent resident, present during the stay, two guests maximum). Airbnb and other platforms are legally barred from processing bookings for unregistered NYC listings, which is why the number of active short-term listings in the city dropped sharply after September 2023 enforcement began.

What is landlording?

Landlording is the practice of owning residential property and renting it to tenants, covering lease management, rent collection, maintenance, and legal compliance with landlord-tenant law. It ranges from a single-unit side income situation to managing a full portfolio, but the core legal responsibilities (habitability, notice, deposit handling) apply regardless of scale.

How do I become a landlord for the first time?

Acquire a rental property, confirm local zoning allows rental use, check whether your city requires rental registration or licensing, get landlord liability insurance, bring the unit up to local housing code, and learn your state's security deposit and eviction rules before signing a lease. Many cities require licensing before you can legally advertise the unit at all.

Who is responsible for a rental property walkthrough inspection in California?

California landlords must offer an initial move-out inspection if the tenant requests one, per California Civil Code Section 1950.5, giving the tenant a chance to fix issues before final deposit deductions. The landlord conducts the inspection and must provide a written itemized statement of any problems found.

What rights do tenants have without a signed lease?

Tenants without a written lease generally still have rights to proper eviction notice, a habitable unit, and protection from illegal lockouts, treated as month-to-month tenants under most state law. In New York, occupants who've lived somewhere 30 days or more typically start gaining tenant status regardless of a formal lease document.

Why do landlords require renters insurance?

It shifts liability for a tenant's personal belongings and certain injury claims off the landlord's own policy and reduces disputes after damage events like fires or leaks. It's usually a lease condition the landlord sets, not a universal legal mandate, though some cities and subsidized housing programs do require it.

How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering a unit?

Most states require 24 to 48 hours notice for routine, non-emergency entry, though the exact number varies by state statute and some states rely on a general reasonableness standard instead of a fixed number. Emergencies are a near-universal exception allowing immediate entry without notice.

What can a landlord look at during a rental inspection?

Inspectors and landlords generally can check the physical condition of the unit: safety devices like smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, electrical and plumbing systems, signs of damage, and code compliance. They generally cannot search personal belongings or locked personal storage without a specific legal basis.

What can't a landlord do in Ohio?

Under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5321, a landlord can't retaliate against a tenant for reporting code violations, can't shut off utilities to force someone out, can't enter unreasonably without notice, and can't include lease clauses waiving a tenant's right to sue the landlord for negligence.

Did Airbnb sue New York City over Local Law 18?

Yes. Airbnb sued the city arguing the law was an unconstitutional taking and violated speech rights. A federal judge denied Airbnb's request for a preliminary injunction in August 2023, and the law's enforcement went forward as scheduled on September 5, 2023.

Sources

1. New York State Multiple Dwelling Law Section 4(8): Definition of Class A multiple dwelling and prohibition on transient occupancy under 30 days
2. New York City Administrative Code Section 27-2093 (Illegal transient use penalties): Civil penalty ranges for illegal short-term rental / transient occupancy violations
3. New York Real Property Law Section 226-c: Notice requirements and tenant protections applicable even without a formal lease term
4. New York Real Property Law Section 235-f / general occupancy protections: Occupants gain tenant-like protections after extended residence regardless of lease
5. California Civil Code Section 1950.5: Landlord must offer tenant-requested initial move-out inspection and provide written itemized deficiency statement
6. California Civil Code Section 1954: California's 24-hour notice standard for landlord entry as a reference point for state variation
7. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5321: Ohio landlord-tenant law prohibitions on retaliation, utility shutoffs, and unenforceable lease clauses
8. Ohio Revised Code Section 5321.04: Ohio landlord obligations to maintain code compliance, safe common areas, and working utility systems