January 2020
January 2020 was a month of rules and safety promises. Scotland said every short-term let would need a license and that councils could set planning control areas. Airbnb removed 28 Hollywood Hills listings identified by the Los Angeles police, tied employee bonuses to guest safety and dedicated an additional $150 million to trust and safety. The highest administrative court in the Netherlands told Amsterdam it could not exempt hosts from permits, and by 30 January Airbnb was offering cancellations without charges over the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.
A look back, written in October 2026 from sources published in January 2020. Stay Gazette opened in July 2026.
Platforms · 6 January 2020Airbnb Pulls 28 Hollywood Hills Listings and Ties Staff Bonuses to SafetyAirbnb removed or suspended 28 Los Angeles listings that police had identified as party houses, then tied employee bonuses to guest safety and dedicated an additional $150 million to trust and safety. For hosts, January 2020 showed how a listing could be switched off.By Jesse Kohl · Filed 11 October 2026 · 7 min read
World · 8 January 2020Scotland Says Every Short-Term Let Will Need a LicenseA Scottish minister told Parliament that every short-term let would need a license with a mandatory safety standard, and that councils could require planning permission for whole-property lets in control areas. Hosts were left waiting for the fees, the tax and the detail.By Tomás Ferreira · Filed 11 October 2026 · 7 min read
Pictures on this page. 1. Photo: Hollywood Hills with view of the Hollywood Sign by Mundanemetal, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized). 2. Photo: Scottish Parliament Debating Chamber 3 by Colin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).
What else was reported in January 2020
- 29 January 2020On 29 January 2020 the Dutch Council of State ruled that Amsterdam had no power to exempt residents from the Housing Act's permit requirement for renting a home to tourists, declared the exemption in the city's housing bylaw non-binding, and said the resident fined €6,000 in the case did not have to pay. Raad van State (Council of State of the Netherlands)
- 30 January 2020Bloomberg News reported on 30 January 2020 that Airbnb had activated its extenuating circumstances policy so that hosts and guests affected by the coronavirus outbreak could cancel reservations without charges, and that it left each host to decide whether to accept bookings while hundreds of Wuhan properties stayed available. Bloomberg News (read on Yahoo Finance)
- 10 January 2020Boston's zoning commission rejected an effort by property investors in 11 city neighborhoods to rebrand apartment clusters as executive suites, closing a possible loophole in the city's short-term rental law; ShortTermRentalz reported on 10 January that the amendment still needed the mayor's signature. ShortTermRentalz
- 28 January 2020Columbus, Ohio, changed its short-term rental licensing so that hosts had to send fingerprints to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation for a state background check, replacing checks the platforms had run in house; The Columbus Dispatch was cited as saying over 2,200 listings might be affected. ShortTermRentalz
- 7 January 2020Sykes Holiday Cottages said it would acquire Pure Cottages Group for an undisclosed sum, a deal ShortTermRentalz reported on 7 January would bring the number of properties Sykes managed across the UK and Ireland to over 19,000. ShortTermRentalz
- 8 January 2020Airbnb opened its Open Homes program in New South Wales and Victoria to offer homes free of charge to people affected by Australia's bushfires; ShortTermRentalz reported on 8 January that the program was open until 16 January. ShortTermRentalz