House Sharing Market Airbnb implemented a new rule that aims to reduce the number of bookings that result in unauthorized service interruptions.

As part of its 8 point plan for responsible summer travel in 2021, the company is blocking users in New Jersey and across the country from making overnight reservations for entire homes on the July 4 weekend. Exceptions will be made for customers who have earned a history of positive reviews.

July 4th lands on a Sunday this year; Airbnb notes that National Day has been set as the date for COVID to reopen in the United States

“As the July 4th weekend approaches, we are rolling out tighter restrictions on one and two night bookings, which may present increased risk to parties,” Airbnb says in its plan. “For example, we’ll take advantage of our technology that restricts some local and last-minute bookings by customers without a history of positive Airbnb reviews, and also block bookings within an expanded radius.”

In August of last year, in the face of COVID-19, Airbnb announced a global party ban in its lists, including an occupancy cap of 16.

“What concerns us the most and what we especially want to stop are the very, very large gatherings, where it’s open and you don’t even know who’s showing up,” said Ben Breit, trusted communications manager for Airbnb New Jersey 101.5. “It is literally someone’s house they care about deeply.”

As part of a crackdown on so-called party houses in New Jersey, Airbnb announced last August that 35 ads statewide had been suspended or removed from the platform. The affected properties were located in 25 municipalities, including Atlantic City, Hoboken, Newark, Toms River and Woodbridge.

A house in Jackson booked through Airbnb last summer ended up attracting around 700 people. Police said it took more than four hours to clean the property.

Contact reporter Dino Flammia at [email protected]

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