Airbnb To Restrict Users Under Age 25 From Booking Homes In Their Local Areas In Hopes To Reduce Parties

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — In hopes to reduce unauthorized parties, Airbnb is now restricting guests under the age of 25 from booking full homes in their local area, the company announced Thursday.

"Reducing the number of unauthorized house parties on Airbnb has always been a priority, and it's more important now than ever," Airbnb stated.

"With public health mandates in place throughout the country, we're taking actions to support safe and responsible travel in the United States."

Users under the age of 25 with less than three positive reviews will be prohibited from booking entire-home listings that are "close" to where they live.

However, the users are still able to book any type of listing outside their local area, the company stated.

Airbnb said it launched the same initiative in Canada earlier this year, and since then, the number of unauthorized parties held by guests under the age of 25 has experienced a "meaningful drop."

The company said there will "always be people who work to find ways around our trust and safety protections, and we know that people over the age of 24 are perfectly capable of booking a home for the wrong reasons, too."

But the company said because of the success of the policy in Canada, this was the right action to take.

Last week, Airbnb announced a new compliance system to help the city of Los Angeles enforce its home-sharing ordinance and support tourism growth.

The system will streamline the registration process for hosts, promote compliance and automate city enforcement.

(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)