Airbnb Cracks Down On Stafford 'Party House'

MANAHAWKIN, NJ — Airbnb says the party's over. The company has suspended or removed 35 "party houses" from its New Jersey listings, including at least one in Stafford.

The company didn't provide addresses for the listings out of respect for the privacy of hosts and homeowners, a company spokesperson said. They also didn't clarify which cities had more than one affected listing.

Without a specific address to look up, Stafford police weren't sure whether the property or properties in town faced legal trouble.

"While Stafford Township requires the registration of rental properties, there is currently no specific Airbnb ordinances in place to track them," said Officer Marisa Lawrence.

Airbnb banned "party houses" in December. The policy doesn't impact host-authorized parties with responsible guests but is meant to address "the small number of guests who act irresponsibly and those rare hosts whose homes become persistent neighborhood nuisances," a press release said.

The policy includes a ban on "open-invite" events and prohibiting large parties large events in multi-family properties, including apartment buildings.

But the "party house" rules take on new significance because of public-health concerns during the coronavirus pandemic.

"We stand with Governor Murphy, and we support his call to action to stop parties and promote behavior that respects the public's health," said Chris Lehane, Airbnb's senior vice president of global policy and communications. "We ban party houses and will not tolerate irresponsible behavior on our platform."

Airbnb launched a 24/7 Neighborhood Support Hotline last year. Neighbors can call a rapid-response team with their concerns. Issues raised through this hotline led to many of the listing suspensions Airbnb announced.

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