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I am screeching with laughter and spluttering gin everywhere.
I am thankful that we don’t have these issues in the UK. If I say my house is unsafe (and why) for children, then that is accepted by most. I do get requests from people to bring their very special, well behaved children, who will not be left unsupervised for one minute, or fall down the stone garden steps, or the 250 year old staircases. I feel like Maggie Thatcher sometimes; “no, no, no.”
Please also keep in mind , that not being legally liable for children getting hurt, does not save you from a potential lawsuit.
For any injury, there are lawyers contacting the victims, offering their services. Anyone can sue anyone for anything and regardless on whether the suit has merit, it costs a lot to defend yourself against a lawsuit. And lawyers are used to insurance companies rather settling than going through a prolonged lawsuit.
The US federal Fair Housing Act does not apply to small owner occupied buildings. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/does-the-federal-fair-housing-act-apply-your-rental-property.html
My experience has been that charging the ‘extra guest’ rate for any child, regardless of age, does a lot to discourage people from bringing children. Additionally, I make it a point to list, in great detail, why my space is not ‘child safe’ and then subtly suggest that anyone who would bring a child into that unsafe environment is obviously a bad parent.
It’s worked well so far.
How did that go over? I would see people being upset when you collect outside of airbnb policies,
Hello from beautiful Montana,
Whaaaaaaaaat? This is not correct. If we can say we do not accept animals and no smoking, surely we can say no children under 12.
We have a downstairs apartment that is reached by stairs (as in Down-Stairs) so are we discriminating against those who cannot climb stairs?
Fondly, Judy Helm Wright–Author/Blogger/Intuitive Wise Woman
I’m sure this has been mentioned in this thread, I just didn’t see it in my review (coming in late) but I’ll say it anyway:
Besides the difference in rules for renting rooms in your home as many have mentioned, short term rentals play by different rules too when it comes to allowing children. It’s a grey area and the law is evolving but still it is not absolutely verboten to restrict based on age. Of course this varies from state to state in the US.
Haven’t some people said they aren’t even given the option, based on the location of their rental, to check the “not appropriate for children under 12” box?
In my quest for answers re: familia status discrimination (because age is NOT a protected class) I read that restricting the number of people you rent also falls under discrimination. For example: Listing a one bedroom unit for one or two people only. This could exclude the struggling single parent who is willing to either sleep in the same room as their children, set up a bed in the living area, sleep on the couch etc.
The renter might be willing … What about the host and neighbours being willing to accept the additional noise and mess overcrowding brings? What about fire? What about refuse collection paid for by local residents. It’s a dumb law. We moved out of the disease and squalor caused by overcrowding, now moving back again.