TORONTO — Airbnb says it will ban people without a history of good reviews from renting entire homes in Canada for just one night this Halloween weekend.
The home rental platform says the policy is meant to prevent people from using Airbnbs to throw unauthorized and large parties.
The company says guests who have a history of positive reviews on Airbnb will not be subject to the restriction on one-night bookings.
Airbnb will also restrict some people from making local and last-minute bookings for two-night stays if they don't have a history of positive reviews.
The company had a similar policy last year in Canada and the U.S. and says in Toronto alone more than 1,300 people were deterred from booking entire home listings during Halloween.
Airbnb has been subject to criticism in recent years after many homes rented on its platform were used for unauthorized parties that generated complaints, turned violent or rowdy and in a few cases, even resulted in deaths.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2021.
The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version erroneously included a reference to authorized parties in the sixth paragraph.
