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My minimum renter age on VRBO is 21. I could make it 40 if I wanted.
I follow AirBnB’s policies on their platform because they provide half of my bookings. If there were a lot of under-21 primary renters, I would probably not list there.
We have only had one group that was really young, they were 6 teens including the primary renter and one 20 year old. I had a close eye kept on them and insisted on a walkthrough with them upon checkout. 
It has nothing to do with being legal or illegal. Airbnb will suspend your account if you do something they consider discrimination. I’ve read about hosts being warned about discriminating against younger renters in the past.
It is not unusual for city or state discrimination laws to be stricter than those of the federal government; nor is it unusual for a city ordinance to be stricter than an Airbnb policy. My understanding is that in either case, the stricter policy prevails. But this one is interesting because the Airbnb discrimination policy conflicts with City of Palm Springs licensing law. It underscores how a service provider like Airbnb can grant itself this sort of power, and who are they to do so? As a licensed vacation rental host whose property is in Palm Springs, if I violate Airbnb rules the worst they can probably do is ban me from their site forever. If that happened, it would be frustrating, but my vacation rental business would continue. However, if I violate the City of Palm Springs law, then they could revoke my license and prohibit me from operating my vacation rental business in Palm Springs. To continue, I would have to sell the house and relocate to a different city.
This is all neither here nor there. I only find this an amusing example of the self importance Airbnb places on its own existence.
Your understanding is correct. You would simply need to state:
Minimum renter age: “X” by mandate of City of Palm Spring Ordinance “XYZ(1)(a)”.
I just found this BBC report from February 6. It only mentions Canada but it seems that the policy has since been rolled out to other countries.
Canadians of any age will still be able to book rooms in other people’s houses and hotel rooms. But under-25s will only be able to book whole properties if they have a track record of positive reviews on Airbnb.
That’s interesting. It effectively says Airbnb has confirmed a real risk that is a combination of “red flags” hosts have been talking about for years:
Under 25 renters + local renters + whole house + short notice = high risk to Airbnb’s host guarantee/host protection/reputation
I am irritated that they have decided to do this, but I can’t be transparent about it and make that sort of restriction myself on their platform. And I only wanted to block under 21. I would be happy to host young people who are the full legal age of majority.
Not sure if it was the guest’s age or the Coronavirus “response” but when I switched my listing from entire home to private room they were able to book, then I switched it back.
Pretty sure it’s their party house response.
Best of luck to you.
Clever! Good to know we can suggest this as a workaround.
Then when they get there have them pay cash direct and have them call Airbnb and cancel and get refunded. LOL.
