City officials say platform reporting will be a 'game changer' as short‑term rental enforcement continues

Supervisor Aaron Peskin convened a quarterly oversight hearing on short‑term rentals on April 28. Omar Masary of the Office of Short Term Rentals reported 2,106 certified hosts, roughly 359 denied applications and about 198 revoked or withdrawn applications. He said the office had cited around 560 dwelling units for illegal short‑term rental activity and that the city had assessed roughly $1.4 million in penalties, of which approximately $800,000 had been collected to date.

Masary described enforcement priorities: targeting high‑volume operators who run multiple properties as de‑facto hotels, addressing "hacker hostels" (multiple bunk beds in single‑family homes), and identifying illegal conversions in SROs and residential hotels. He said enforcement relies on a mix of web‑scraping, public complaints, site visits and cross‑checks of public records, and that some referrals lead to revocations when hosts cannot demonstrate permanent residency.

Officials and several speakers said the ordinance passed in 2016 that requires platforms to provide data to the city is critical; Masary called platform reporting a "game changer" that would allow the city to shift from one‑by‑one enforcement to targeting systemic high‑volume listings. He also said the office is launching an online registration portal and has outreach hours to assist hosts. Supervisors continued the item to the call of the chair and emphasized the city will press to implement platform reporting once legal challenges are resolved.

Public commenters including housing advocates urged vigorous enforcement, changes to the ordinance to close loopholes (for example, split caps on nights when a host is present vs. absent) and measures to prevent the conversion of long‑term housing into tourist units.