Airbnb suspends, removes more than 45 listings in Montreal as part of its crackdown on 'party houses'

MONTREAL -- Popular home-stay website Airbnb announced on Monday a crackdown on listings in the city of Montreal for places that have been used as "party houses." 

More than 45 listings in the city have been either suspended or removed from the platform altogether following complaints or other violations of the company's rules around parties and events. 

Party houses have been banned at Airbnb since 2019, but the company said the measure is all the more necessary in the context of a global pandemic. 

“With cases of COVID-19 rising in Montréal and across Québec, it’s crucial that we all do our part to reduce the number of large gatherings and parties, and we support the efforts of local officials to curb this irresponsible behaviour,” said Airbnb’s public policy manager in Canada, Nathan Rotman, in a statement. “We hope that by sharing out these steps today, we can bring greater awareness to our 24/7 neighbourhood support hotline which helps to bolster the enforcement of violations of our party ban throughout Canada.” 

In the spring of 2020, Airbnb launched a support line in Canada for neighbours to voice their concerns about Airbnb listings and guests at any time of day. 

"Issues raised by residents through this hotline led directly to some of the listing suspensions announced today," reads a company press release from Monday morning. 

Airbnb also recently announced restrictions on certaint types of local bookings -- if a person under 25 living in Montreal attempts to book an entire home for a single night in Montreal, the system won't let them reserve unless they have several positive reviews on the site. 

Hosts whose listings have been suspended or permanently removed from Airbnb in Montreal were made aware of these changes last week, the company said.  

"The vast majority of hosts in Montréal contribute positively to their neighbourhoods and economy, and they also take important steps to prevent unauthorized parties - like establishing clear house rules, quiet hours, and communicating in advance with their guests," the release continues. 

"Our actions today address the very small minority of hosts who have previously received warnings about hosting responsibly or have otherwise violated our policies."