New York City Enlists Short-Term Rental Industry in Effort to Enforce Tri-State Quarantine Requirements

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Seyfarth Synopsis: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed an executive order requiring “all transitory hotels, motels, inns, dwellings offered for ‘short term rental’” to inquire whether guests have traveled from a state or territory that New York State has designated as a state with a high COVID-19 infection rate and to require either that the guest provide proof of the completed traveler health form required of such travelers pursuant to the state’s quarantine requirements or require that the guest do so, should the guest answer in the affirmative. 

Effective Friday August 21, 2020 at 12:00 am, Executive Order 141 (the “Order”) requires “all transitory hotels, motels, inns, dwellings offered for ‘short term rental’ . . . and private for-profit businesses providing temporary lodging for fewer than 30 days” to “inquire whether the guest has travelled from a state or territory on the Restricted List within the last 14 days, and require guests who answer affirmatively to provide proof of a completed Traveler Health Form.” [1] Moreover, “[i]f a guest who has travelled from such a state or territory within the last 14 days does not provide such proof, they shall not be allowed access to a room until they have completed the Traveler Health Form, either by electronic means or on paper.”

As noted in our prior Legal Update, out of state travelers from designated high COVID-19 infection rate states must provide their itinerary and contact information via the state’s Travel Health Form before or upon arriving in New York State.[2] The state has been enforcing this requirement, at least in part, by having airlines distribute the form at some point before arriving in New York, and stationing enforcement officers in airports at the gates of flights arriving from affected states, where they will request proof of the completed form as passengers disembark their flights. Those who do not complete the form prior to leaving the airport will face a $2,000 fine “and may be brought to a hearing and ordered to complete mandatory quarantine.”

The requirement imposed on short-term rental and temporary lodging businesses is the latest extension of state enforcement efforts by the Big Apple. Earlier this month, Mayor De Blasio “announced COVID-19 traveler registration checkpoints at key entry points into New York City to ensure compliance with New York State quarantine requirements and further the containment of COVID-19. . . . at major bridge and tunnel crossings into New York City.”

In addition to the requirements above, short-term rental and temporary lodging businesses “shall make every effort to notify guests at the time of booking or reservation that guests arriving from or having traveled in a state or territory on the Restricted List should complete the Traveler Health Form prior to their arrival in the City.” Per the City’s FAQs on the Executive Order, impacted businesses “should email guests a link to the Traveler Health Form and remind them that all guests that have spent time in a restricted state within two weeks of their arrival into NYC must fill out the form.”

Businesses subject to the Order and in violation of the same can be subject to any penalties that may be issued for other violations of the New York City Health Code, and could be found guilty of a class B misdemeanor. As of now, the Order is scheduled to remain in effect for five days unless terminated or modified at an earlier date. Given there is no sign of the New York State quarantine requirements sun setting within this time, we expect the Order will be extended.

Impacted businesses should reach out to the authors of this Legal Update or their Seyfarth contact to discuss implementation of this Order and New York State’s Travel Advisory and quarantine requirements more generally. To stay up-to-date on COVID-19 developments, click here to sign up for our daily digest.

 

[1] Per the Order, “[s]uch proof may be in the form of a screenshot of the certification page of a completed form on the guest's cellular phone or laptop.”

[2] For more information on New York State’s quarantine requirements, see our prior Legal Updates here, here, and here.