• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechAirbnb

Most San Francisco Airbnb Hosts Shirk Regulations, Report Finds

By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 8, 2016, 7:17 AM ET
Existing Homes For Sale As Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Rise At A Faster Pace
The downtown skyline stands past Victorian homes in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015. Home values in 20 U.S. cities rose at a faster pace in the year ended October as lean inventories of available properties combined with steadily improving demand. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPhotograph by David Paul Morri—Bloomberg via Getty Images

Despite regulations and even a special office dedicated to it, short-term home rentals in San Francisco are largely illegal, according to a new report from the San Francisco Budget and Legislative Analyst’s Office.

The report, issued Thursday, concludes that 1,055 homes, or 26% of entire-home listings in San Francisco, are rented for more than 90 nights per year, which is the maximum allowed for “unhosted” short-term rentals where the home’s full-time resident is not present during the guests’ stay. These homes were rented out for an average of 200 nights, according to the report.

The report also addressed another aspect of San Francisco’s short-term rental regulations: host registrations. Recently, home-sharing company Airbnb shared with city officials that as of March 2016, it has 7,046 hosts in San Francisco. However, the Office of Short Term Rentals, which was established last year to manage and police these rentals, has received only 1,647 registration applications, suggesting that up to 76.6% of Airbnb hosts are out of compliance. Some of these applications can also be from hosts who are listing their homes on websites other than Airbnb, such as VRBO and FlipKey.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

San Francisco’s Budget and Legislative Analyst’s Office used two sources of data to compile its report. One was data from Airbnb itself, which last week said it will start to share some data publicly. It also used data from Murray Cox, who along with Tom Slee is best known for a recent report on anomalies in Airbnb listings in New York City. Cox “scraped” Airbnb’s website, meaning that he used software algorithms that compiled the publicly available information on Airbnb’s website.

In late 2014, San Francisco passed the current set of short-term rental regulations, which went into effect in February 2015.

Overall, this new report shows that San Francisco’s regulations haven’t been enforced well. One reason for this, according to the report, is the lack of cooperation from services like Airbnb, which could easily provide data to city officials about hosts and listings not compliant with regulations. Another is inadequate regulations and processes. For example, to force hosts to apply to register, the city could mandate home-sharing services to display each host’s registration number. It could also simplify the registration process, something that both the report and Airbnb say is sorely need.

For more on Airbnb, watch:

From an Airbnb spokeswoman:

Airbnb is already working to help meet The City’s goal of fighting illegal hotels and we are taking action by removing unwelcome listings from our platform, releasing data and cracking down on commercial operators. Unfortunately, the registration process remains a challenge — San Francisco is asking hosts to apply for multiple permits, fill out dozens of pages of paperwork and tell The City how many spoons they have in their home.

The typical middle class host in San Francisco shares their space 48 nights a year to generate supplemental income and we are proud that our community is paying their fair share of taxes. We will keep working with City on policies that help keep unwanted commercial activity off the platform and let middle class families share their home so they can afford to stay in San Francisco.

In November, Airbnb successfully defeated a ballot measure that would have imposed stricter regulations on short-term rentals in San Francisco. The company donated more than $8 million to the campaign against the measure.

Shortly after, Airbnb, which since its founding in 2008 has raised $2.4 billion in funding and is currently valued at $25.5 billion, publicly pledged to work more closely with city governments. Since then, it released partial anonymized data about its New York City listings, has begun a pilot to warn Paris-based hosts who might be violating local regulations, and said last week it will begin to remove hosts with multiple entire-home listings in San Francisco.

 

The story has been updated with comment from Airbnb.

About the Author
By Kia Kokalitcheva
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

These startups are racing to make AI safe for the Pentagon’s most closely guarded secrets
AIDefense
These startups are racing to make AI safe for the Pentagon’s most closely guarded secrets
By Erik GermanApril 11, 2026
19 hours ago
karp
Future of Workpalantir
Palantir CEO says AI ‘will destroy’ humanities jobs but there will be ‘more than enough jobs’ for people with vocational training
By Jacqueline MunisApril 11, 2026
19 hours ago
A Starbucks barista stands behind a cash register.
RetailFood and drink
Starbucks’ game plan to roll out AI chatbots at cafés could serve as a ‘litmus test’ for the industry, analyst says
By Sasha RogelbergApril 11, 2026
20 hours ago
The ‘Tuscan Mom’ aesthetic is taking over TikTok as Gen Z glamorize McMansions and reject millennial gray
Travel & LeisureGen Z
The ‘Tuscan Mom’ aesthetic is taking over TikTok as Gen Z glamorize McMansions and reject millennial gray
By Sydney LakeApril 11, 2026
20 hours ago
dalmation
AIHealth
Man’s best friend may soon live a little longer thanks to a new pill promising to extend your pup’s lifespan
By Catherina GioinoApril 11, 2026
21 hours ago
hunt
CommentaryMedia
OpenAI’s TBPN deal shows how talent, media, and influence are collapsing into one
By Jonathan HuntApril 11, 2026
22 hours ago

Most Popular

'This is the last warning.' Iran threatens U.S. warships after they throw down the gauntlet for winner-take-all Strait of Hormuz
Politics
'This is the last warning.' Iran threatens U.S. warships after they throw down the gauntlet for winner-take-all Strait of Hormuz
By Fortune EditorsApril 11, 2026
8 hours ago
The 'affordability economy' has created a housing market nobody predicted: Prices collapsing in the Sun Belt, soaring in the Rust Belt
Real Estate
The 'affordability economy' has created a housing market nobody predicted: Prices collapsing in the Sun Belt, soaring in the Rust Belt
By Fortune EditorsApril 11, 2026
23 hours ago
Palantir CEO says AI ‘will destroy’ humanities jobs but there will be ‘more than enough jobs’ for people with vocational training
Future of Work
Palantir CEO says AI ‘will destroy’ humanities jobs but there will be ‘more than enough jobs’ for people with vocational training
By Fortune EditorsApril 11, 2026
19 hours ago
Warren Buffett says 'accumulating great amounts of money' doesn’t achieve greatness—He still lives in a $31,500 Nebraska home and clipped coupons
Success
Warren Buffett says 'accumulating great amounts of money' doesn’t achieve greatness—He still lives in a $31,500 Nebraska home and clipped coupons
By Fortune EditorsApril 11, 2026
20 hours ago
Scottie Scheffler joined Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in golf's $100M club—and donated his entire Ryder Cup stipend to charity
Success
Scottie Scheffler joined Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in golf's $100M club—and donated his entire Ryder Cup stipend to charity
By Fortune EditorsApril 10, 2026
2 days ago
Navy tests Hormuz blockade as expert says U.S. military prepares for round 2 and could degrade Iran's hold over the strait to a 'manageable level'
Politics
Navy tests Hormuz blockade as expert says U.S. military prepares for round 2 and could degrade Iran's hold over the strait to a 'manageable level'
By Fortune EditorsApril 11, 2026
13 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.