Airbnb is suing New York City over short-term rental rules. The outcome could disrupt your next vacation in cities across the US.

• In 2022, New York City passed a law that imposed restrictions on short-term rentals.
• The ordinance is set to become enforced in July, but now Airbnb is suing the city.

Tourists looking to enjoy New York City's famous summer heat — and smell — might find their vacation rental options limited.

A law passed by the city in 2022, which would limit short-term rentals by requiring owners to jump through a number of regulatory hoops, is set to take effect next month.

On Thursday, Airbnb, along with a trio of local hosts, sued New York City, filing two separate lawsuits in Manhattan's state court. The suits claim the restrictions "will result in a drastic decrease in the number of listings in New York City and represent a de facto ban on short-term rentals," per a press release from the company.

Imposing regulations on short-term rentals is not necessarily new. Cities around the US have tried to fight Airbnb on this phenomenon, which grew fervently during the pandemic.

This past September there were 6.1 million short-term-rental listings available on the platform, up 19% from the same month in 2019.

Aside from noisy tourists, critics have expressed concerns over the availability of affordable housing for actual community members. The more properties are turned into short-term rentals, the fewer housing options are available for actual residents.

New York's short-term rental ordinance would require owners to register with the mayor's office, disclose who else lives in the property, and promise to comply with zoning, construction and maintenance ordinances.

"It is literally impossible to comply with a maze of complex regulations in different legal codes – which experts say no lay person who has not worked as a building code inspector could ever even hope to understand," said Karen Dunn, Airbnb's counsel, at a press conference on Thursday, in response to these regulations. She added that since May, New York has only granted nine Airbnb registrations.

Aside from the new regulations, New York is imposing additional rules regarding listing logistics.

"If by some miracle hosts make it through the registration process, additional layers of impossibility exist on the Airbnb side," Dunn said. "Airbnb will now be required to create a 4-point verification system that insists on an exact match – a match that is defeated if there is one inconsistent spelling, one extra space, or you write Ave instead of spelling out Avenue."

Some local hosts spoke out against the forthcoming law at Thursday's conference.

"As musicians, our livelihood was greatly impacted by the pandemic," said Gia Briscoe, a Brooklyn host who is among those suing the city . "We had to use the income from Airbnb to survive, and now the city is trying to rip this away from us."

A spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams said City Hall will review the lawsuit.

This isn't the first time Airbnb has battled short-term rental rules, and the court's ruling may affect how lawmakers approach the issue.

In 2020, the company agreed to settle a dispute with New York City over a 2018 law that attempted to curb the practice. New Orleans is among cities taking on the rental giant, after a court struck down a previous law.

Outside the US, Florence announced an immediate ban on new short-term private vacation rentals in the Renaissance city's historic center.