Children! My house is not suitable for kids.. yet people are inquiring and booking

1

my listing says unsuitable for children and the house is very much unsuitable… not child proof at all, full of antiques and glass and steep stairs. But last week a couple booked and showed up with a child at 10:00pm. Option A would have been to deny them entry late at night which I didn’t think was too terribly nice. Option B to let them stay the night but find other accommodations for the next night, but I’d heard that you can’t discriminate against people with kids. They even asked to get a sitter for their second night so they could go out. Definitely NOT.

What do y’all do when faced with people who show up with kids?

2

Why can’t you discriminate? I believe you can if your place is owner occupied. You can stipulate no kids. They knew darned well what they were doing by showing up with the kid, especially at that hour.

If they are staying a couple of days then I’d let it go. But if it’s longer than that I would definitely cut their visit short.

2 Likes
3

I think the FHA laws apply to long term rentals. These people were boors doing this to you when you clearly have stated not a fit for kids. Since you let them stay, review them as such.

3 Likes
4

I have the same “Not suitable for children” restriction on my listing. And I have also had plenty of people with kids inquiring about staying at my place. I actually had a potential guest once repeatedly demand specific reason for the restriction. I explained that my apartment was not child-proof and declined his request. If I were in your situation, I would also probably feel bad about turning a family with a child away at 10 in the evening, but like @konacoconutz suggested I would note their disregard for rules in the review.

5

I might be wrong here but I thought I read somewhere that the FHA laws don’t apply if your building has five dwellings or fewer?

2 Likes
6

Like all almost STR deals, it’s a grey area.

1 Like
7

Not really. The law is very clear. “Owner-occupied housing: Multifamily housing of two to four units, where one of the units is owner-occupied, is exempt from fair housing laws.” It’s the Mrs. Murphy Exception: This provision in the law provides that a home is exempt from the FHA if the dwelling has four or fewer rental units and the owner lives in one of those units. The exemption is based upon the hypothetical elderly widow, Mrs. Murphy, who would like to rent part of her home and who may desire to specifically pick out her tenants.

7 Likes
8

Interesting. I’d missed that part.

1 Like
9

Thanks for that detailed explanation. I knew there was an exemption that involved the owner living on the property.

I’m wondering what anti discrimination laws other countries have, if any.

10

I would have turned them away. They booked your place very clearly knowing kids aren’t allowed, and counting on the fact that you’re too nice. People shouldn’t take risks with their kids like that and basically use them for emotional blackmail. If they end up with nowhere to stay they deserve it

2 Likes
11

I love Mrs. Murphy!!

4 Likes
12

Me too! Mrs. Murphy for the win!

4 Likes
13

Oh, god. What a horrible situation. Putting all these discrimination rules aside (and, this is all good information, so thank you everyone)…I have an easy solution in case this happens to anyone:

"Oh, I am sorry. Your booking was for two, and clearly there are three of you. I am afraid you will need to seek other accommodations as my rules clearly state that only registered guests are allowed on the property and all guests must 18 or older.

Don’t worry. You should have no problem cancelling this reservation and get any refunds you are entitled to in accordance with my cancellation policy. Good night!"

3 Likes
14

I just noticed as I was previewing my new listing that people can show up with an infant, or 2! Even though I only accept one guest. I’d catch it if I didn’t have IB on but I don’t.

1 Like
15

I think that hosts who want to exclude children as guests need to put it in the house rules. The way Airbnb phrases it, “This listing may not be suitable for children under XXX.” is open to interpretation.

2 Likes
16

I agree Ellen, but they can still show up with an infant and be “legal” since Airbnb states that infants aren’t figured into the guest count.

I think this topic has been discussed at length but I skimmed over it. Now I’m realizing it could affect me and I’m wondering how I’d handle it.

17

I do know that if you have “not suitable for infants 0-2” selected they can’t IB if they have an infant on their guest list. That doesn’t mean that they won’t deselect the box…

18

They also say that pets aren’t included in the guest count. However, if you state no pets then they aren’t supposed to show up with pets.

19

Sarah I’m pretty sure I was able to select the number of infants on my listing. However, since I only allow one guest I wasn’t able to alter that. I’ve gotta check again.

I just checked and I’m able to select up to 5 for the number of infants 0 - 2 that don’t affect the guest count. I have the listing on IB.

20

Holy crap. Thankfully I don’t think 1 adult will be traveling with 5 infants, but you never know where the next OctoMom will be traveling and what her budget is…

3 Likes