Airbnb may crack down on multiple-home renters

AIRBNB said it was willing to crack down on individuals in New York City who rent out multiple homes, bowing to pressure from politicians and tenants' rights groups who say the company has worsened affordable housing issues in the city.

The company also said, in a proposal to city officials on Wednesday, that it was willing to create a registry of hosts to make it easier for the state to enforce housing rules and that it would create a dedicated hotline for neighbours' complaints. It would bar hosts who violated local regulations three times, and it said it had already taken 3,000 commercial operators off its service.

Airbnb has had an unusually contentious relationship with New York. The company's attempts to court local support alienated a broad array of powerful interest groups, including hotel unions, landlord and tenant groups, affordable housing advocates, Republicans and Democrats.