Plenty of adults did as well. Before his ill thought out participation in the 2000 election led to GWBush’s presidency, he first came to national attention when he wrote Unsafe At Any Speed about our deadly automobiles.
So today I just read another report on this, which says:
“The lawsuit also lists the Wellington property’s rental manager and a man who rented the home days before the Lavenir family, alleging that the home was was not properly cleaned after being used to host a party in which fentanyl and other illicit drugs were present.”
I thought it had already been established that no fentanyl was found in the home, and the partier guest admitted that there was cocaine, but no fentanyl, so why are they claiming that “fentanyl was present” at the party?
Also, Airbnb now says that the party booking was not done through their platform.
1 Like
Or two grains could have come through an open window.
All the plaintiffs have to do is show that it’s more likely than not that the fentanyl was in the home.
They can show that there were two parties in the prior month, that the police were called for one of the parties, that each of the parties included many more people than the reservations, that there illegal drugs including cocaine at the party right before the French family’s reservation, that the manager’s review [EDIT: not review but end-of-stay message] said nothing about the police being called or about the number of people exceeding the reservation but just praised the partying guest. And all this before depositions!
A 19-month old baby is dead. The whole incident is a nightmare scenario for any parent, and the jury will hear the details. IMHO the jury will want to hold someone responsible.
The defendant’s attorney might say that maybe the fentanyl residue was on someone’s shoe or the luggage.
The plaintiff’s attorney will say “Connect the dots.”
1 Like
It was a VRBO booking. Hosts can’t leave written reviews on VRBO, only ratings.
1 Like
Yes, you’re right. Thank you.
But to my same point it was a written message to the party-ers for whom the police were called and the reservation count greatly exceeded.
That this may be a negligent host is something we don’t know- he could be just one of those unlucky hosts who gets what turns out to be a party booking and is just as dismayed about it as the neighbors, or he might be one of those remote hosts that pays no attention, doesn’t care as long as the $ rolls in, and has a bad manager.
That’s right. We don’t know yet.
But the complaint mentions the HOST had ‘nondelegable duties’ to ‘keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition and to warn of dangerous conditions.’ So, if the manager did a poor job that’s on the Host legally.
If they didn’t know about the police coming to the property, why not? Were there no cameras?
If they didn’t know about the reservation count exceeded for each of the last two reservations, why not? No cameras or just don’t care?
If the manager knew about the police coming to the property, why write that they were perfect guests? If they didn’t know, why?
Plus there a number of things in the complain that surprised me, like they didn’t do an adequate background check on the guests. I don’t know of any duty to do that, but the plaintiff lawyers are really really good, so maybe they’ve got something there (?)
The complaint also alleges the Host did not change or adequately clean the bed sheets.
Plus again there’s going to be discovery in the case. Already it’s looking bad and when ‘everything’ comes out it’s likely to look worse. I remember a policeman on TV once saying that if he could follow the average person driving for an hour he’d easily find multiple violations of the law to cite.
It doesn’t look good for the Host.
A host on the CC once asked what other hosts thought about including naloxone in a first aid kit in rentals. Didn’t sound like a bad idea. Might have saved this baby’s life.
It might be a good idea generally but in this situation no one knew what the problem was with the toddler.
1 Like
So - keeping this straight as far as the parties involved….
The guests with the lost child.
The previous Guests.
VRBO
Airbnb
The Host
The Manager
The Cleaner
This will be fascinating to watch to see how some sort of blame is apportioned and assessed……
1 Like
I’m guessing it will be settled, so we won’t know. The deep pocket is Airbnb and the complaint argues that Airbnb is liable for all the acts and omissions of the Host and the manager
I would love to see the briefs because I’d like to see the legal authority for the plaintiff’s complaints that the Host should do some of the things that they allegedly failed to do:
– the Host failed to perform an ‘adequate’ background check on the guests (how many of us do that? And what’s ‘adequate’?),
– the Host failed to adequately assess the safety of the premises before the French couple checked in (so that’s interesting: How many of us ‘assess the safety’ right before each guest? And what would that assessment include?),
– the Host failed to investigate the activities of the previous guests (How would the Host do that? Is this a reference perhaps to whether the property had exterior cameras?),
– the Host failed to maintain the subject premises to detect lethal drugs (how would the host do that? And how could anyone have detected what could have been just two salt grain-size residue of fentanyl?)
– the Host ‘permitted’ the previous guest to bring drugs to the home (How? Are they looking for a house rule against illegal drugs?)
I’m also fascinated by the arguments that Airbnb is liable for acts for acts/omissions by independent contractors (which can happen in certain industries where the independent contractor is working a dangerous instrumentality (like a truck; but a home?).
I wonder whether after this lawsuit ends Airbnb will take more responsibility regarding its listings. For example, I see listings where there are no railing on steps. If there’s a fall/accident, I would think this law firm would sue Airbnb (and of course the Host) for that.
In my opinion Airbnb should do some due diligence – they could just look at the listings’ pictures for starters (though that wouldn’t be enough because all the interior/exterior stairs might not be in the pictures). A hotel couldn’t get away with properties that just by the pictures are not in compliance with building codes.
So, maybe this lawsuit – if the law firm’s arguments are strong (and this is a VERY successful law firm) – might be a game-changer for the good in getting Airbnb to accept some responsibility, do some due diligence on the properties listed on its platform, vet/train Hosts, maybe even inspect properties. Well see. [So far it hasn’t hurt the stock price; $94 on the day the suit was filed on 12/14/22; $118 on 3/9/22).
Of course, I’d love to see a court’s opinion on this, but as I said earlier it’ll probably settle since most suits do.
Um, what? Seems like it’s the guests that Airbnb should be vetting and doing some due diligence on. If there was fentanyl in the listing, it came from guests- it’s highly unlikely it came from the host or the manager. And no thanks- I don’t want Airbnb becoming a property-checker and telling hosts they need to spend thousands of dollars to conform to some standard Airbnb deems acceptable. They told us we had to wash the porch ceiling between guests as part of their “enchanced cleaning for Covid”, fer crissake.
1 Like
I agree. For whatever reason the law firm did not argue that Airbnb should do that.
I’d want Airbnb to require that properties, inside and out, are in compliance with local building codes. A house inspection just costs a few hundred dollars and it would show that to the extent visible.
Your mind set is American. There aren’t any building codes where I live. No electrical or plumbing inspections, no safety inspections. The only time anyone gets a house inspection is if they are planning on buying a house and want to make sure it doesn’t have any glaring issues that will cost them a lot to remedy.
And it may not be any big deal to you, but “a few hundred dollars” is not just a piffle to many hosts. Like a single mom renting out a couple rooms in her home in order to pay the mortgage.
1 Like
Why assume that the Host should pay for the inspection?
If a hotel wants to make properties available they actually need to buy or build it. Maybe Airbnb would be a little more selective if Airbnb needed to spend some money to vet its Hosts and the properties.
By and large that’s how it is in the U.S. as well.
Look, we’re not trying to figure out here at the forum how Airbnb should make sure the properties are safe. You’re right to point out that that will vary by location.
You’re living in a fantasy world if you think Airbnb is going to shell out a few hundred dollars for every one of its over 4 million properties. And they don’t want to be selective, that should be obvious. They’re only selective when it comes to suspending host’s accounts if a guest makes some complaint.
The day Airbnb sends inspectors to my house is the day I delete my listing. Not fond of Big Brother oversight.
1 Like
I don’t think that, one way or the other.
Nor would I assume, as you seem to, that if they have liability in the U.S. they would inspect all properties worldwide. That seems very U.S.-centric, Muddy! 
By the way, though, a $200 fee on four million properties is $800MM for a company whose revenues last year were $8.4 billion. We’re not talking about an annual expense.
Of course, Airbnb will need to look at cost-benefits. In the case of the two -year old child killed by a tipped over dresser, the settlement in that ONE case was $17.5 million.
It would take fewer than just 50 settlements like that to exceed even an $800 million cost to vet properties.
I just would like it if Airbnb should make sure that the properties it offers are safe. Maybe this as much a local government issue.
It would also be very U.S.-centric to think that inspections everywhere cost what they cost here. Also, I don’t know that third party house inspections are the only way to get this done. Worcester MA was talking about requiring some inspections (but without the formality of the kind of report that building inspectors do; the cost was estimated at well under $50 but I don’t know what that entailed or if it was a final number; the inspections were to be done by the City).
Measures more than nothing but less than inspections are also possible. Making sure the properties are safe could be part of the negotiation that Airbnb has with municipalities.
Maybe they could get affidavits by Hosts that the pictures show all of the outside and all of the inside that is available to the guests. Maybe AI could examine all existing pictures, say for U.S. listings, and spot stairs without railings.
Look, there are many ways that I think Airbnb could go about this; My point is that they do NOTHING on safety. I understand why; they don’t think that they’re liable (I’m guessing that by and large they’ve been correct in thinking this; that’s why this lawsuit could be a game changer, with IMHO a benefit to the public).
This case could change Airbnb’s calculations, at least in the U.S. I don’t know if Airbnb even asks a U.S. Host as part of the application process something as simple as “Please verify that this property, to the best of your knowledge, complies with local building codes, or indicate that you don’t know.” [Again, don’t hold me to this language – Airbnb will figure this out if need be; not you or me.]
IF Airbnb were held responsible for the safety of its properties, THEN Airbnb would need to do something. I’m not pretending to develop HOW they get that done [at least not for free.] but I am pointing out that it’s doable.
OR they could just pay the settlements.
Anyway, I think we’re both getting ahead of ourselves and getting into the weeds.
That was actually Ralph Nader on the Corvair.
1 Like
I don’t understand your comment. If you are trying to correct me and say that the book was only about the Convair, you are incorrect. If you are trying to say something else, please let me know. The word “actually” implies that I’ve made an error somewhere that should be corrected.
2 Likes
I meant no attack. The book you referenced was written by Nader and heavily relied on the Chevy Corvair to showcase safety issues in the US auto market.
1 Like