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Stay Gazette
Airbnb, Vrbo and the business of short-term rentals, reported daily
The record

January 2022

2 stories · Platforms, World

January 2022 was a month of rules. Scotland's Parliament voted to license every short-term let, New York City's registration bill became law without the mayor's signature, and Washington, DC started taking licence applications. Airbnb had set the end of the month as the date for a test, lasting at least two years, that would hide the first names of Oregon guests from hosts until booking. Money kept moving too: Sonder closed its merger to list on Nasdaq, and AirDNA called 2021 the best year on record for US short-term rentals.

A look back, written in October 2026 from sources published in January 2022. Stay Gazette opened in July 2026.

Office towers of downtown Portland line the far bank of the Willamette River in evening light, with the Morrison Bridge and its steel railing curving in from the right.Platforms · 4 January 2022Airbnb Says Hosts Will See Only the Initials of Oregon Guests Before BookingAirbnb set 31 January 2022 as the date by which hosts would see initials in place of the first name of a guest from Oregon until a booking was confirmed. The company called the effect unknown and kept the change to one state for at least two years.By Jesse Kohl · Filed 11 October 2026 · 7 min read A curving row of tall sandstone buildings with a church spire behind them, above arched shopfronts painted blue and red, under a bright blue sky on Victoria Street in Edinburgh.World · 19 January 2022Scotland Votes to License Every Short-Term LetThe Scottish Parliament approved an order that made every short-term let in the country need a council licence, with safety checks, insurance and a licence number on each listing. Existing hosts were given until 1 April 2023 to apply.By Tomás Ferreira · Filed 11 October 2026 · 7 min read

Pictures on this page. 1. Photo: Portland Skyline with Morrison Bridge July 2017 - Oregon by M.O. Stevens, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized). 2. Photo: Edinburgh (Dùn Èideann) 133 by FrDr, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).

Also that month

What else was reported in January 2022

  • 10 January 2022New York City's short-term rental registration bill, Int. 2309-A, became Local Law 18 of 2022 on 9 January 2022; the City Council's record shows it was returned unsigned by the mayor on 10 January. New York City Council
  • 11 January 2022Washington, DC began accepting short-term rental licence applications on 10 January 2022 under a law its council passed in 2018, with the full provisions due to be enforced from April. Short Term Rentalz
  • 19 January 2022Sonder closed its merger with the special purpose acquisition company Gores Metropoulos II and was due to start trading on Nasdaq as SOND on 19 January 2022, after raising approximately $310 million from PIPE investors. Short Term Rentalz
  • 7 January 2022Airbnb Payments agreed to pay the US Treasury $91,172.29 to settle apparent violations of sanctions on Cuba, tied to payments it processed for stays and Experiences between 28 September 2015 and 1 March 2020. Short Term Rentalz
  • 21 January 2022AirDNA said 2021 was the best year on record for US short-term rentals, with occupancy at an all-time high of 60.8 per cent while available listings were still 9.4 per cent below 2019. Short Term Rentalz
  • 31 January 2022Airbnb said it would launch guest travel insurance in the spring and put $20 million into a Covid support programme giving eligible guests a travel coupon for 50 per cent of the unrefunded part of a booking. Short Term Rentalz