NYC short-term rental law: rules for renters and hosts

In New York City you can't rent out a whole apartment or house for fewer than 30 days, whether you own it or rent it. The only legal short-term rental in a regular home is one where you live there and stay with no more than two paying guests, and you must be registered with the city under Local Law 18.

Renters face extra limits. If your apartment is rent stabilized, rent controlled or NYCHA, you can't register at all. If your lease or building bans short-term rentals, you can't either, and listing anyway can put your lease at risk.

The core rules

Local Law 18 didn't change what was legal. The underlying rules date back decades, to the Multiple Dwelling Law and the city's housing and building codes. What it added was a registration system and a way to force booking sites to check it. According to the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement (OSE), a short-term rental is legal only if all of these are true:

1. Under 30 days means you're home. You stay in the same apartment as your guests during their stay.
2. A common household. Everyone in the household, guests included, has access to all parts of the unit. Under the OSE rules, a lack of access to any part of the unit creates a presumption that there is no common household.
3. Two paying guests at most at a time, not counting children under 4.
4. Legal space only. Guests can't sleep in a cellar, attic or garage unless the Department of Buildings has approved it.
5. You're registered with OSE, and each listing is submitted to OSE so booking sites can verify it.

How nights are counted matters. Under state law the check-in date is day zero, so a 29-night booking is a short-term rental and a 30-night booking is not.

Can I Airbnb my apartment as a renter?

Usually not, and here's why. Work through these questions in order:

OSE must notify your landlord when you apply, and tenants are encouraged to talk to their landlord first. Owners can then add the building to the Prohibited Buildings List by certifying that every lease in the building bans short-term rentals. If that happens after you're registered, OSE can move to revoke your registration, and the $145 fee isn't refunded.

The risk to your lease

City fines aren't the only risk. Hosting against your lease gives your landlord grounds to act against your tenancy:

• Lease violations. Many leases limit use of the apartment to your own residence and restrict sublets and occupants. Paying guests while you're away can be treated as an unauthorized sublet or illegal use of the apartment.
• Losing a stabilized lease. State rules say a stabilized tenant who sublets may charge no more than the legal rent (plus any sublet allowance the owner charges), with up to 10% more if the apartment is fully furnished. If a tenant overcharges a subtenant, the state can order three times the overcharge refunded. A tenant who doesn't really live in the apartment can lose the right to a renewal lease. Nightly rates on a home-sharing site almost always exceed those limits.
• No shortcut through sublet law. A legal sublet under RPL § 226-b requires a written request to the landlord and covers a real sublet for your absence. It doesn't make a series of under-30-day stays legal.

If you want to bring in someone longer term, read subletting rules and New York's roommate law instead.

Penalties under Local Law 18

How registration works

1. 1

   Check you are eligible first

   The fee is non-refundable, so confirm your unit isn’t rent regulated (you can ask NYS HCR), your building isn’t on the Prohibited Buildings List and your lease allows it.
2. 2

   Fix open violations

   Registration is denied if the unit has an uncorrected DOB Class 1 or HPD Class C violation, a DOB work-without-a-permit violation, or a vacate order, or if there is an uncorrected fire code violation. Check HPD Online and DOB, or the building page on Roofy.
3. 3

   Gather documents

   Upload one proof of identity and two proofs of permanent occupancy from two different approved categories. Renters also provide the part of the lease showing dates, address, parties and signatures.
4. 4

   List every listing

   Give the booking-site name and listing ID or URL for each existing listing. Listings for an entire unit, unhosted stays or more than two guests can’t be approved.
5. 5

   Apply on the OSE portal

   Pay the $145 fee when you submit. OSE aims for an initial decision within 3 business days. If problems can be fixed, you get 90 days to correct them, or 30 days to send missing documents.

How enforcement has played out

1. January 9, 2022

   Local Law 18 adopted

   Creates the host registration system and booking-service rules.

2. September 5, 2023

   Enforcement begins

   Booking platforms must check registrations and stop processing unverified short-term transactions.

3. April 2025

   Revocation pilot

   OSE starts sending Notices of Intent to Revoke to registered hosts it says broke the rules.

4. June 2025

   Illegal listings flagged

   OSE estimates about 20% of registered listings were offering illegal occupancy and begins warning hosts.

5. October 2026

   Renewals expected

   OSE may refuse renewal where a host has committed acts that justify revocation.