In a unanimous vote, the New Orleans City Council voted October 10, 2024 to require that short-term rental (“STR”) platforms actually verify that listings are properly licensed with the City of New Orleans.  Councilmember JP Morrell, who has taken a leading role in the council’s efforts to regulate the industry, said he brought the change to create a lasting enforcement mechanism.

Ordinance 34,806, set to go into effect on March 1, 2025, seeks to address frustrated enforcement efforts, Morrell said, where illegal listings continuously reappear on STR platforms like Airbnb and VRBO under false or incorrect license numbers. In introducing the ordinance, Morrell predicted that “the whack-a-mole will end.”

Under the previously existing ordinance, platforms that facilitate STR stays are required to hold some evidence of a STR platform license and pay an annual fee of $10,000 to the City. Complying with these requirements gives the platforms, in exchange, a “safe harbor,” whereby they were not responsible for actually verifying the authenticity of license numbers submitted by owners and operators. 

Under the new ordinance, STR platforms will be required to verify each listing via an electronic verification system the City will set up. In addition, the annual fee will be tiered from $5,000 to $30,000 depending upon the number of verifications the platform runs in a year. In addition, the platform will not be allowed to publish a listing until the city has verified the license number. Listings must be reverified every 30 days.

The new ordinance will also require enhanced reporting requirements to city hall that were previously only required if platforms wanted to enjoy “safe harbor” protection. Platforms will benefit from a new affirmative defense if they can show that the city’s verification system is inoperable.

The new ordinance will not go into effect until March 1, 2025. In his floor comment, Councilmember Morrell acknowledged that this was to allow time for the city to stand up the necessary data systems for listing verifications. 

In NOLA.com's reporting on the ordinance,, platforms such as Airbnb warned that “short-term rental activity is likely to go underground.” But, alternative websites like Craigslist or other alternative vehicles are unlikely to fall within the City's definition of an STR platform because their websites do not “receive a fee or other thing of value, directly, or indirectly, for facilitating or conducting booking transactions.”

However, the owners and operators would still be subject to STR regulations and enforcement. For more information, contact Graham Williams.