New York City Local Law 18, Explained

Local Law 18 requires short-term rental hosts in New York City to register with the Office of Special Enforcement, and it reshaped stays under 30 days around a host-present model with a maximum of 2 guests. Whole-apartment hosting without the host present, which was common before the law, does not fit that model. Platforms must verify registration, and unregistered listings face removal and enforcement. A host who plans a New York City short let must therefore start with registration and presence, not with pricing or photographs.

The law's logic is housing and building safety: short stays under 30 days in homes that would otherwise be residential units raise occupancy, safety and neighbour issues that a host-present, two-guest model limits. Hosts who understand that logic will understand why the law is strict about presence and guest numbers, and why workarounds that hide absence or extra guests are treated seriously.

Registration is administered by the Office of Special Enforcement, known as OSE. Hosts apply through the OSE process for the unit, providing the details the office requires, and receive a registration that platforms can verify. This guide does not list application fields, because OSE procedures and forms change, and the nyc.gov OSE pages are the authoritative source. Prepare ownership, occupancy and building details before starting, and keep the registration confirmation with the unit file.

Registration is per unit and per host situation, not a general city licence. A host with two units, or a host whose occupancy situation changes, should check whether a new or updated registration is needed, rather than assuming one registration covers a changed situation. Platforms verify registration before listings go live, so a registration gap appears quickly as a listing hold.

For stays under 30 days, Local Law 18's model requires the host to be present in the unit during the stay. That presence rule is the law's central operating condition: it distinguishes a hosted short stay, where the host lives in the unit alongside guests, from an unhosted whole-home let, which the law does not permit in this category. Hosts who live elsewhere and let an entire apartment while absent do not meet the presence rule, however well the apartment is furnished or managed.

Presence must be genuine, not nominal. A host who claims presence but lives elsewhere, visits occasionally, or leaves guests alone for most of the stay risks enforcement based on occupancy evidence, neighbour reports and platform data. Hosts should describe their presence honestly when registering and listing, and should not take bookings that require absence if the law requires presence for that stay type.

Stays under the Local Law 18 hosted model are limited to a maximum of 2 guests. That limit applies to the hosted short stay, not to longer stays or to other housing categories, and it interacts with presence: a host present with up to two guests is a small, household-scale stay, while larger groups in a home raise different safety and neighbour concerns. Listings should state the guest limit accurately, and hosts should not accept extra guests informally beyond the limit, even for one night.

Guest-count discipline also affects safety. A unit's safe occupancy, exit routes and building rules may set a lower practical limit than the legal maximum, and hosts should follow the lower of the two. A listing that promises capacity above the legal or safe limit creates a breach on its face, before any guest arrives. Align listing capacity with the law and with the building's safe occupancy.

Platforms operating in New York City must verify OSE registration for short-term listings and must not process unregistered short-term transactions in the covered category. In practice, hosts see this as a registration field, a verification wait, and removal or blocking where verification fails. A host whose listing disappears should first check registration status and listing details against the OSE record, rather than assuming a platform error.

Removal is not the only consequence. OSE enforcement can pursue hosts and, where applicable, platforms for unregistered or non-compliant letting, with fines and orders that affect future hosting. A host who responds to removal by creating a duplicate listing under different details risks a more serious enforcement picture. Fix the registration or presence issue at source, then seek reinstatement through the proper channel.

Local Law 18 covers New York City specifically. The rest of New York State follows different rules, covered in the state overview guide in this cluster, and hosts should never apply city rules to a state property or state assumptions to a city property. Within the city, building rules, condo and co-op rules, and lease clauses add further layers: a registered, host-present stay can still breach a building ban or a lease.

Before listing in the city, confirm OSE registration, host presence, guest limit, building and lease permission, and safety information for the unit. Recheck nyc.gov OSE pages before each season, since procedures and guidance evolve. This guide is general information only, last verified on 26 October 2026, and is not individual legal advice.