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It is a
Airbnb. -
It is a
neighbor. -
It is
for a city and its residents.
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It would be more effective if a bunch of people did that…
Hmmm…
RR
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I don’t see a thing wrong with it. I am wondering what you are looking at that you find objectionable. Kudos to them and I think every property shoudl do the same thing to be proactive. They really have only one paragraph with more details than I have in my property rules, .plus they id because they need to be sure., but I am local. Otherwise, this is essentially the contract the guest has to sign after booking. I too have my entire contract inserted into rules because it has to be in black and white for AirBnb in case of a problem. The guest signs it to me in case of legal needs. I have a lot more uploaded than they do in my rules sections and anytime guests pass me by then I feel I got lucky and dodged a bullet. I stay fully booked and avoid most problems., except normal ones. I have expressed before. Nobody should rely upon AirBnb to have their backs and everyone should get a signed contract if it is not a homeshare.
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JDD is flagging the likely illegal security deposit for service animals, not the listing in general.
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I wasn’t thinking so much that it was illegal but it is explicitly against the Airbnb TOS.
However, I just reviewed the local laws and it is, in fact, illegal in Austin. The muni-code there makes it entirely illegal to have this policy. Their definition of a public accommodation would include these listings.
But hosts in the US really need to understand that even if it is not illegal for your listings personally for one reason or another, it is always illegal to advertise a discriminatory preference in the US.
Austin is a dumb place to push something like discrimination. I personally know at least 3 or 4 advocates and lawyers who are now retired who are looking for something like this to persue.
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My opinion.
In my area arbitrage is probably violating property management regulations requiring anyone who doesn’t own the property and is managing it & collecting rents to be a licensed real estate professional.
I have no tolerance for this. Their illegal rentals reflect poorly on all Airbnb hosts. We can say, “that’s not my kind of rental.” But to non-hosts it is further proof the STR business is corrupt.
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If I understand correctly there are a few rules in my area that apply to long term rentals that may not apply to short term rentals.
I’m getting pushback from a soon to be host about carbon monoxide detectors. She will be renting 30-150 nights in the off season. LTR code requires a carbon monoxide detector in every bedroom.
I’m suggesting hosts set up to follow the code for LTR so they are covered if they do off-season rentals >28 nights.
I need to re-read code about emotional support animals. I’m hoping I mis-interpreted the Emotional Support Animals. (I’m not a fan. Psychiatric service animals are different).
Anyway the point being, we can accidentally get in trouble if we don’t consider long term rental regulations for when renting out entire home rentals.
Yes, that is typical in most places, as well as the federal laws, but there are places that are exceptions (like MA).
For long-term rentals, if I remember your situation correctly, you would have to take an ESA per the federal laws.
The exemptions that the feds give to their laws are for either an owner-occupied home with 4 units or less or if you have three or fewer single-family homes that you don’t use an agent or broker to rent them but rent them out yourself. A condo will not qualify for either of these exemptions. And your local laws can only be more restrictive, not less.
But it is highly unusual for anyone to have to accept an ESA for a short-term rental. They are not covered under the ADA so most states and cities don’t cover them either (only San Francisco that I know of).
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So many properties they are managing. It’s mind boggling. Reviews are mostly positive though. 
Chicago is a perfect example! The current regulations, registration and license procedures, municipal taxes and surcharges, make it difficult to operate a STR in the city let alone upscale to more than one unit. This was the natural outcome of unfettered Airbnb growth in 2016-17. Every developer wanted to cash in wherever they could put a bed.
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Hi @georgygirlofairbnb, I am wondering about your process. How do you go about getting a signed contract back. Do you send them a document or a docusign link? I of course have rules listed in my home’s listing, to which it seems guests have to agree on Airbnb, but don’t do anything outside that. Curious as to how you handle it.
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I used to use “SignNow” which is the easiest way to get started I think. My entire contract is in my Rules so both guest and AirBnb has it, although we know the guest does not read, but if I need to refer to it…there it is. My listing requires that it be signed and returned in 24 hours.
I am curious on what your contract says.
Even if you are in the ‘right’ unless your agreement has what some would call onerous provisions that the winner pays the legal, accounting fees of the other and I could imagine others, even if you ‘win’ do you win after costs? And can you collect on your judgment?
Many more provisions would likely be needed to increase your probability of breaking even on any litigation. Would a prospective guest sign it? Be deterred by it? Even read it?
And what about the unregistered guest? The visitor? Their claims? Your claims against them?
This is a worthwhile separate topic.
“…This is a worthwhile separate topic…”
I guess then that you should start a new topic and then maybe hopefully somebody else will answer your many questions and satisfy your curiousity.
.
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Something to keep in mind about contracts: 90% of the value of the contract is scaring off people that don’t intend to follow them. My contract says we’ll evict with no refund if you smoke inside the house (1st violation is a warning). I have no idea if that would hold up in court, but it scares off most of those people that were planning to smoke in our home.
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Any kind of law, contract or otherwise, operates on the same principle.
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Because my family travels a lot, we have visited tons of STRs with VRBO and AirBnB (or other sites). Just around 2019 we visited 73 STRs over 15 months. So we have been guests in many different STRs over the past 20 years. In fact, we were already renting STRs many years before VRBO, when you had to buy books to see lists of accommodations in a state or region!
As guests, we have seen long and short sets of rules. At work, I frequently work on contracts, so I pay careful attention to the conditions under which we rent. As I read these house rules, I don’t find them objectionable, nor do I think that they would stop me from renting from this person.
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