Airbnb has been in the move to crack down on San Francisco hosts who violate the city’s law on short-term rentals, complying with the city’s housing laws.

The vacation-rental website will begin investigating hosts who list multiple homes. Over the weekend, the company will begin to wash out hosts who have turned private homes into illegal hotels. The company’s latest move comes after years of criticism by activists who say lucrative vacation rentals gobble up some of the city’s precious housing stock.

Like Us on Facebook

The company showed that 1,149 listings are controlled by hosts who rent more than one entire home through the site. Since local law restricts vacation rentals to permanent residents offering their own home, listing multiple properties is a red flag.

In addition, the 478 of the multiple-property operators are either licensed hotels or rentals of 30 or more days, which are legal. The remaining 671 listings are controlled by 288 hosts. The company is now targeting the 288 hosts for possible expulsion. It brought in 17 percent of San Francisco host revenue, but it only represent 7 percent of all listings in the city.

Authorities said that Airbnb and other short-term rental sites are blamed because of the housing shortage. Critics said that this business gives property owners a financial motive to convert homes into lodging for out-of-town visitors rather than residents.

Airbnb has cited privacy concerns and it said that it will polish its own listings in some cities to comply with the law. In addition, the company removed almost 100 questionable San Francisco listings in January and another 118 in 2015.

Airbnb is described as a platform for private homeowners to rent out an extra bedroom, or let someone use their apartment while they were away. It attracted more commercial operators because of its success and popularity. Some operators even bought properties just for renting them out on Airbnb.

TagsAirbnb, San francisco Listings, vacation-rental website, Hotels, Travel