We have gotten complaints of rental homes where there have been loud, late into the night parties and people not following our CC&Rs, We believe this revised CC&R will address that”

Tom Wilson, Sun City Home Owners Association general manager

Unauthorized parties have always been prohibited at Airbnb listings, In fact 73 percent of our listings globally already ban parties in their house rules, and the vast majority of our guests behave in manners that show respect for house rules and for neighbors.”

Mattie Zazueta, Airbnb spokeswoman

By Rusty Bradshaw
Twitter: @SunCitiesEditor

Complaints about parties, large gatherings and occupants violating community regulations prompted the Sun City Home Owners Association to include a rental restriction within proposed revisions to its covenants, conditions and restrictions.

One international rental company took steps last week to try and address the problem. Airbnb officials approved a ban on parties and events at all its listings. The ban includes a cap of 16 people allowed at rentals.

Among the CC&R revisions, SCHOA officials included prohibiting rentals of single-family homes of 29 days or less.

“We have gotten complaints of rental homes where there have been loud, late into the night parties and people not following our CC&Rs,” Tom Wilson, SCHOA general manager, told a crowd of people during a fall 2019 town hall explaining the revisions. “We believe this revised CC&R will address that."

However, SCHOA’s CC&R revision plan was stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The (coronavirus) pandemic has significantly delayed our efforts to amend the CC&RS, but it has not changed our view that such efforts are needed and in the best interest of the homeowners in Sun City,” Jim Hunter, SCHOA board president, stated in a March email.

Airbnb officials stated last week in a press release parties are now banned on all future listings. In addition, occupancy at Airbnb listings will be capped at 16 people. This is primarily relevant to larger homes that were previously allowed to list as able to accommodate 16-plus people.

Airbnb officials are currently scoping a potential exception process for specialty and traditional hospitality venues, such as boutique hotels. Guests will be informed about Airbnb’s party rules and informed that they may be legally pursued by Airbnb if they violate the policy.

Airbnb officials’ actions come on the heels of a party house crackdown in Arizona, which resulted in the suspension or removal of 50-plus listings that received complaints or otherwise violated Airbnb policies on parties and events.

The new policy is in place indefinitely, according to Mattie Zazueta, Airbnb spokeswoman.

“Unauthorized parties have always been prohibited at Airbnb listings,” Ms. Zazueta stated in an email. “In fact 73% of our listings globally already ban parties in their house rules, and the vast majority of our guests behave in manners that show respect for house rules and for neighbors.”

Airbnb officials began last year imposing much stricter limits, starting with a global ban on “party houses,” listings that created persistent neighborhood nuisance, according to Ms. Zazueta. They also launched a 24/7 neighborhood support hotline in the U.S. and Canada to communicate directly with neighbors and help officials effectively enforce the party house ban, she added.

When the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, and social distancing became an important element in promoting public health and responsible travel, Airbnb officials updated its policies.

“We started by removing both the ‘event-friendly’ search filter from our platform as well as ‘parties and events allowed’ house rules from any event-friendly listings,” Ms. Zazueta stated.

They also required all users to adhere to local COVID-19 public health mandates. At the time, most local governments were imposing strict limits on gatherings. But as mandates on public gatherings changed, some people took their bar and club activities to homes, some of which are rented through the Airbnb platform.

“We think such conduct is incredibly irresponsible; we do not want that type of business, and anyone engaged in or allowing that behavior does not belong on our platform,” Ms. Zazueta stated.