NYC agency · Short-term rentals
Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement (OSE)
Enforces the rules on illegal short-term rentals (Local Law 18 registration) and illegal hotel/transient use of residential buildings.
What OSE regulates
The Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement is a multi-agency task force that targets illegal short-term rentals (renting a dwelling for fewer than 30 days when the host isn’t present) and illegal conversions of residential buildings into de-facto hotels. Under Local Law 18, hosts must register short-term rentals with OSE, and booking platforms may only process stays for registered listings.
What owners deal with
- Local Law 18 short-term-rental registration (or a prohibited-building notice).
- Violations and vacate actions for illegal transient use and illegal conversions.
- Coordination with DOB (illegal use), FDNY, and HPD on enforcement sweeps.
How to look it up
Register or check short-term-rental status through OSE. Illegal-conversion conditions also surface as DOB/HPD violations in the NYC Building Compliance violation lookup.
Reviewed against current NYC agency guidance by the NYC Building Compliance editorial team. Found something out of date? Tell us. Informational only — not legal or engineering advice.
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