Airbnb Permanently Bans Parties in Michigan

This article was originally published on BLAC Detroit.

Following the announcement of Airbnb’s global party ban of 2021, Airbnb introduces a new ban over July 4 aimed aimed at trying to stop unauthorized parties. This party ban applies to all future bookings on Airbnb and it will remain in effect indefinitely until further notice. Similar party bans had been previously piloted over Halloween 2020 and New Year’s Eve 2020. The system focuses on blocking certain one-night reservation attempts and redirecting certain two-night reservation attempts for booking guests who do not have a history of positive reviews.

The following criteria will be in place for guests attempting to book reservations over both Memorial Day weekend and July 4 weekend in the US (including Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands):

• For one-night reservations: Guests without a history of positive reviews on Airbnb will be prohibited from making one-night reservations in entire home listings.
• For two-night reservations: As July 4 approaches, we will deploy more stringent restrictions on certain two-night reservation attempts. For example, we will leverage and amplify our technology that restricts certain local or last-minute bookings by guests without a history of positive reviews on Airbnb.
• Guests who have a history of positive reviews on Airbnb will not be subject to these restrictions.
• We will also be introducing anti-party attestations to guests attempting to make local reservations, in which they must affirmatively attest that they understand that Airbnb bans parties and if they break that rule, they may be subject to legal action from the company.

The fourth of July weekend in 2021 was quiet and we saw a substantial decrease in reports of disruptive and unauthorized parties. Overall, over 126,000 guests without histories of positive reviews were impacted by this anti-party system over the July 4 weekend in 2021.

Both Memorial Day and the 4th of July are meaningful weekends that allow Michigan hosts to facilitate all kinds of responsible travelers including families. This is why the anti-party system and policy allows exceptions on these bookings for those who have a history of positive reviews and have earned that trust through Airbnb.

Here’s how the ban will work

• Parties are now prohibited on all future bookings
• Occupancy at Airbnb listings will be capped at 16 people. This is primarily relevant to larger homes that we previously allowed to list as able to accommodate 16+ people. 
• Guests will be informed about Airbnb’s party rules and informed that they may be legally pursued by Airbnb if they violate our policy. This work is currently being operationalized and will be rolled out in the near future.