Airbnb tells judge it missed hosts linked to illegal New York hotels

Airbnb has identified and banned at least five additional illegal hotel listings

Airbnb Inc. said there were more hosts associated with illegal hotels in New York City than the company told a judge last year.

Airbnb made the admission in a letter Friday to U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, who’s overseeing a lawsuit by home-sharing firms seeking to nullify a New York law requiring them to turn over renter data.

Operators of illegal hotels evaded Airbnb’s One Host, One Home policy by using "a multitude of individuals" to create the false impression of a large number of hosts when there was really just one person, the company said in the letter.

In January, Engelmayer granted