The law, which was to go into effect next month, would have required online home-sharing services to disclose to the city on a monthly basis detailed information about tens of thousands of listings, and the identities and addresses of their hosts.
But Judge Paul A. Engelmayer of U.S. District Court in Manhattan granted a request for a preliminary injunction by Airbnb and another firm, HomeAway. He wrote the companies were likely to prevail on their claim the ordinance violated the guarantee against illegal searches and seizures in the Fourth Amendment.
Airbnb said in a statement, “The decision today is a huge win for Airbnb and its users, including the thousands of New Yorkers at risk of illegal surveillance who use Airbnb to help make ends meet.”
The decision could aid home-sharing services in their fight with other cities that have sought to regulate them, putting a limit on how much information local governments can demand.
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The ruling dealt a major blow to New York City’s political leaders, Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who had championed the new law as a way of combating rising rents. De Blasio signed the law in August after it passed the council unanimously.
“We need that data, because we have to protect people,” the mayor said in a television interview last year.
De Blasio contrasted home-sharing services with the hotel industry, which is subject to inspections and regulations that allow the city to oversee conditions and hold owners accountable.
In a 52-page ruling, Engelmayer did not rule on the merits of Airbnb and HomeAway’s claims, but said that the injunction would block the law from taking effect pending resolution of the litigation, which he said would proceed expeditiously.
Airbnb and other home-rental services have been battling regulation nationally and abroad, as cities including Seattle, San Francisco and London have required such companies to share some data through a registration system for listings.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.