STRWATCH.AI 50/50 MARKETS · UPDATED 2026-07-18 · ALL CITIES
STRWATCH.AI / NY / New York

Is a short-term rental legal in New York, NY?

HEAVILY REGULATED

In New York City, renting out an entire home or apartment for fewer than 30 consecutive days is illegal in all permanent residential buildings (private dwellings and Class A multiple dwellings), even for owners — whole-unit short-term rentals are only lawful in city-approved Class B (transient) buildings such as hotels.

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Sources checked2026-07-155 open items listed below

Multiple Dwelling Law § 4(8)(a) defines Class A buildings as for 'permanent residence purposes' (occupancy of 30+ consecutive days by the same person/family); sub-30-day occupancy is permitted only for house guests/lawful boarders living within the household of the permanent occupant, or unpaid occupancy while the occupant is temporarily absent. OSE: hosted rentals require the host to stay in the same unit with no more than 2 paying guests and maintain a common household (guests must have access to all parts of the unit; guest-room keyed locks defeat this). Applies to all permanent residential buildings including owner-occupied 1-2 family homes (NYC Building Code treats them as exclusively long-term residences; hosted+registered rental with up to 2 guests is permitted). Entire-unit STRs are lawful only in Class B multiple dwellings (hotels, lodging houses, etc.), which are exempt from registration, as are rentals of 30+ consecutive days (check-in day counts as day zero, so a 30-night rental is permanent occupancy). No sleeping in cellars, attics, or garages. Prohibited from registration: rent-regulated units (rent control/stabilization, 421-a/J-51, Mitchell-Lama-type HDFC), NYCHA units, rooming units, and buildings on the Prohibited Buildings List.

What you need to operate

Short-Term Rental Registration (Local Law 18) $145 one-time non-refundable application fee (plus small payment processing fee); renewal fee also $145
NYC Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement (OSE)
Renewal: 4 years (per OSE rules § 21-06; renewal applications expected to open October 2026)
Host must be a natural person and permanent occupant (owner, or tenant not barred by lease); must submit 1 proof of identity + 2 proofs of permanent occupancy from different categories; must disclose all listing URLs/IDs for every booking service and report new listings before use; unit must have no open DOB/HPD/FDNY violations endangering occupants (rules § 21-08); building must not be on the Prohibited Buildings List. Registered hosts must post an egress diagram and the registration certificate in the unit, include the registration number in all ads, and keep rental records for 7 years (Admin Code §§ 26-3103, as enacted by LL18). Registration is non-transferable.
official source
Hotel Room Occupancy Tax Certificate of Registration / Certificate of Authority Cost not verified
NYC Department of Finance
Required only if the host's rental activity makes them a 'hotel' operator: renting more than one room AND either 3+ separate rentals in a year or more than 14 total nights per year. Exempt: hosts renting only one bedroom in their own home; single rentals of up to 14 days or two rentals totaling 14 days or fewer per year; rentals to permanent residents (180+ consecutive days). Certificate of Authority must be obtained and displayed.
official source
NYS Sales Tax Vendor Registration (Certificate of Authority) Cost not verified
NYS Department of Taxation and Finance
Effective March 1, 2025, STR operators must register as sales tax vendors and collect/remit sales tax and the NYC unit fee UNLESS a booking service facilitates all sales (and issues Form ST-155 Booking Service Certificate of Collection or has a public collection agreement), or the operator rents their own property 3 or fewer days per calendar year without a booking service.
official source

The full picture

In New York City, renting out an entire home or apartment for fewer than 30 consecutive days is illegal in all permanent residential buildings (private dwellings and Class A multiple dwellings), even for owners — whole-unit short-term rentals are only lawful in city-approved Class B (transient) buildings such as hotels. A host may legally offer a short-term rental only if the host is a natural person who permanently occupies the unit, stays in the unit with the guests, hosts no more than two paying guests at a time, and maintains a 'common household' (guests must have free access to the whole unit; no interior door locks that exclude them). Since Local Law 18 of 2022 (verification enforcement began September 5, 2023), such hosts must register with the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement (OSE) for a $145 non-refundable fee before listing on any platform, and booking services like Airbnb and Vrbo are prohibited from processing transactions for unregistered listings. Rent-stabilized, rent-controlled, NYCHA units, rooming units, and buildings on the owner-initiated Prohibited Buildings List cannot be registered. Registered rentals are subject to New York State/City sales tax (8.875% combined), a $1.50-per-unit-per-day NYC fee (both platform-collected since March 1, 2025), and potentially the city's 5.875% Hotel Room Occupancy Tax, which hosts must collect themselves unless a small-host exemption applies.

Taxes on guests & hosts

TaxRateApplies toPlatform collectsOfficial source
New York State and local sales tax on short-term rental unit occupancy 8.875% combined rate in New York City (NYS Pub 718: NYC combined state and local rate is 8⅞%) Rent for STR occupancy over $2.00 per unit per day, effective March 1, 2025; guest owes state sales tax until 90 consecutive days and NYC local sales tax until 180 consecutive days Yes source
New York City short-term rental unit fee $1.50 per unit per day Every short-term rental unit occupancy within NYC, effective March 1, 2025 (guest exempt after 90 consecutive days); state-administered Yes source
NYC Hotel Room Occupancy Tax (city-administered) 5.875% of rent plus a flat fee of $0.50-$2.00 per room per day depending on daily rent (e.g., $2.00/day where rent is $40+) Hosts operating as a 'hotel' — more than one room rented AND 3+ rentals or 14+ nights per year; exemptions for one-bedroom-only hosts, up to 14 days/fewer than 3 occasions per year, and 180+ day permanent residents No source

Enforcement

PenaltiesHosts: offering/advertising an unregistered short-term rental — civil penalty up to the lesser of $5,000 or 3x the revenue generated, per violation (Admin Code § 26-3104(a), enacted by Local Law 18 of 2022); registered hosts violating the chapter or OSE rules — up to $5,000 per violation (§ 26-3104(b)); material false statement on an application — up to $1,000 plus revocation (§ 26-3104(c)). Illegal transient use of a permanent dwelling (Admin Code § 28-210.3, OATH/DOB penalty schedule 1 RCNY 102-01): Class 1 (immediately hazardous) standard penalty $5,000, maximum $25,000, default up to $25,000, plus additional daily penalty of $1,000/day up to $45,000 for continued Class 1 violations (§ 28-202.1); Class 2: $2,500 standard/$10,000 maximum. Advertising a Class A unit for unlawful transient occupancy (Multiple Dwelling Law § 121, enforced in NYC by OSE): up to $1,000 first violation, $5,000 second, $7,500 third and subsequent.
Platform liabilityBooking services must verify registration (or legal exemption) through OSE's electronic verification system before processing any STR transaction and must file monthly transaction reports (Admin Code § 26-3202, enacted by LL18). Penalties (§ 26-3203): up to $1,500 per unlawful fee-collecting transaction (or up to 3x the fee where the fee amount is established); failure to report — per transaction per reporting period, up to the greater of $1,500 or the platform's total fees collected in the preceding year for that listing. Platforms pay a $2.40-per-listing verification system fee (OSE rules § 22-04). Separately, under NYS Tax Law (Ch. 672/2024 as amended by Ch. 99/2025), booking services are the mandatory collectors of sales tax and the NYC unit fee on facilitated rentals, with vendor liability.
NotesVerification enforcement began September 5, 2023. Per OSE's enforcement page: as of early June 2025 OSE estimated ~20% of registered listings were offering illegal occupancy and began issuing warning notices; a registration-revocation pilot (Notices of Intent to Revoke, tried at OATH or NYS Supreme Court) began late April 2025; complaint-based and proactive inspections continue; renewals may be denied for revocable conduct. Prohibited Buildings List lets owners bar STRs building-wide; registrations in listed buildings are denied or revoked.

Pending changes

  • Council bills to loosen Local Law 18 for owner-occupied one- and two-family homes (Int 0948-2024/Int 1107-2024 — would allow host-absent rentals and up to 4 adult guests in registered 1-2 family homes) died without a vote when the Council term ended December 2025; Councilmember Mercedes Narcisse reintroduced the effort in 2026 as the 'Homeowner Stability and Protection Act' (reported May 2026). Not passed; Mayor Mamdani opposed the 2025 versions and has not committed on the 2026 bill. — proposed, 2026-05-01 [news]
  • First cycle of OSE short-term rental registration renewals (4-year terms, $145 renewal fee) expected to begin October 2026; OSE may refuse renewal where the host committed acts that are grounds for revocation. — effective-date-pending, 2026-10 [official]

What we could not verify (5)

  • Host and platform penalty amounts (§§ 26-3104, 26-3203) were verified against the official Local Law 18 of 2022 PDF on nyc.gov; the currently codified Administrative Code text on codelibrary.amlegal.com could not be fetched (HTTP 403), so any post-2022 amendments to those specific sections were not independently confirmed.
  • Official Legistar record for the 2026 Narcisse 'Homeowner Stability and Protection Act' (successor to Int 0948-2024/Int 1107-2024) could not be fetched (Legistar API returned 403); its intro number, exact introduction date, and committee status rest on news reporting only.
  • Whether Airbnb/Vrbo voluntarily collect the city-administered NYC Hotel Room Occupancy Tax on registered listings could not be verified; official DOF guidance places the collection duty on hosts/operators, and the 2025 state platform-collection mandate covers only sales tax and the $1.50/day unit fee.
  • Cost (if any) of the DOF Hotel Room Occupancy Tax Certificate of Registration and the NYS sales tax Certificate of Authority is not stated on the fetched official pages — left null.
  • The state's $1.50/day 'hotel unit fee' on hotel rooms and the new $1.50/day STR 'unit fee' are distinct but identical amounts; only the STR unit fee is listed in taxes.

Sources

A markdown mirror of this page lives at /new-york-ny.md for AI tools and researchers.

STRWatch publishes educational information about short-term rental regulation, checked against the official sources linked above as of the date shown. It is not legal advice, and rules change — a city can move between the times we check it. For decisions with money at stake, confirm with the authority linked above or a local attorney.