Airbnb cracks down on Charlotte ‘party houses’

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Airbnb is cracking down on party houses throughout Charlotte, the booking website announced on Wednesday.

As a result, 20 listings across the city that have received complaints or otherwise violated the company’s policies on parties and events have been suspended from the Airbnb platform.

The action follows Airbnb’s policy change to ban parties at its listings globally until further notice.

According to Airbnb, the vast majority of hosts in Charlotte contribute positively to their neighborhoods and the local economy, and they also take important steps to help prevent unauthorized parties such as establishing clear house rules, quiet hours, and communicating in advance with their guests.

Last year, Airbnb announced a global ban on “party houses,” alongside a 24/7 neighborhood support hotline, where neighbors can call and reach a trained agent to share their concerns with anytime.

“As COVID-19 cases continue to rise throughout the state, it’s more important than ever that we all do our part to reduce the number of parties and large gatherings that could spread the virus,” said Viviana Jordan, North Carolina public policy manager for Airbnb.

In addition to the global party ban, Airbnb recently added restrictions on some bookings of entire home listings by U.S. guests younger than 25.

Additionally, earlier this month the company began banning guests without a history of positive reviews on Airbnb from making one-night reservations in entire-home listings on New Year’s Eve in Charlotte and throughout the country.

Last year, Airbnb expanded its manual screening of high-risk reservations that were initially flagged by its automated systems – a process designed to help the company try to stop reservations that may lead to unauthorized parties before they start. More than 40 reservations throughout Charlotte have been blocked since its launch.

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