Airbnb bans certain new listings as COVID-19 eviction moratorium set to end

LOS ANGELES - Airbnb announced on Tuesday it will not allow landlords to profit off properties where tenants were evicted due to nonpayment as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic amid the upcoming expiration of the eviction moratorium.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s temporary moratorium on evictions was put into effect on Sept. 1, 2020. The moratorium provides protection for renters out of concern that families who lost their homes and would relocate at shelters or share crowded conditions with relatives or friends during the pandemic would further spread the highly contagious virus.

The eviction moratorium is supposed to stop landlords and property owners from evicting renters who meet certain requirements, such as making $99,000 or less in 2020 if you’re an individual or experiencing substantial loss of income. It’s meant to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus through shared housing and unsheltered homelessness, the spread of the virus from one state to another, and support coronavirus response efforts.

The moratorium is set to expire on June 30.

FILE - Logos of Airbnb are seen with a house mock-up.

Airbnb will implement its COVID-19 Renter Protection Policy starting on July 1 until the end of 2021, "at which point we will review the policy, including seeking input from cities, to determine if it should be extended," according to a company news release.

"Airbnb will ban new US listings when a city notifies us that the listings are located at rental properties where the tenant has been evicted due to nonpayment of rent, and where the tenant had been protected by the CDC moratorium," the company said.

"By working with cities to prevent landlords from using our marketplace to profit from removing a vulnerable long-term tenant from their home based on non-payment of rent, we believe we can send a strong message that will help keep people in their homes at this critical time," Airbnb added.

Airbnb also encouraged other vacation rental sites to join its effort to protect renters.

According to data collected in May by The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 10.4 million adults in the U.S. were not caught up on rent.

"Here, too, renters of color were more likely to report that their household was not caught up on rent: 22 percent of Black renters, 19 percent of Latino renters, and 18 percent of Asian renters said they were not caught up on rent, compared to 9 percent of white renters," the CBPP data showed.

In the coming weeks, Airbnb will be implementing their renter protection plan and will be specifically focused "on those cities that are experiencing a high rate of evictions," the company said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.