I had a 17 year old gal and her 21 year old boyfriend stay with me. The booking was made by her mother?
I didn’t know it wasn’t the mother staying until they arrived. I felt deceived.
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We have had a version of this happen, and your choices are to ‘let it go’ or have ABB cancel the reservation. If you do the latter you will forfeit any unused nights.
@azreala is right. Most of us have had similar situations. I had a bloke book for him and his girlfriend and only she arrived because the couple had split up.
I had two choices - host her or contact Airbnb. She was young, in a foreign country and her English wasn’t brilliant. I hosted her anyway and she was a lovely guest. No review of course, because the person who booked didn’t stay here but that’s no problem.
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This is against the TOS. Once they leave you could review them if they proved good guests. You could mention in the private feedback that doing that was a violation. Especially for a minor! Shame on that mom btw. The girl is underage. Hope the mom also got her some birth control, sheesh.
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Yeah kinda weird of the mom. I would freak if my 17 year old was with a man old enough to have finished university. On paper it looks like only a few years age gap but I feel the difference at that age is huge.
I accept third party bookings which have almost always turned out fine. In the circumstances you’ve described I would cancel the reservation. In the United States a 21 year old having sex with a 17 year old is statutory rape. Statutory rape is not only a felony, a person who is convicted of statutory rape has to register as a sex offender. Considering asset seizure laws, there is no way I would risk losing my home by permitting a felony to be committed in it.
Depending on your cancellation policy, I don’t see why this wouldn’t work - but if you had a strict policy (and not in Italy), couldn’t you tell Air that you are not canceling the reservation, but you are holding the room until the mother arrives?
Then if the mother cancels…shouldn’t Air still pay you out? That’s assuming Air would actually follow their written policies…but it seems the reps. just do what they want. Has anyone tried this method with any success, or no success?
Actually, 15 years of age with a six year age difference, in most states. I don’t know of anywhere in the US that the age is 17.
I actually just checked, and the laws vary by state. In CA, this is a statutory situation because of the age of the girl, and the age difference. No universal law on this one. And yes, 17 counts in some states if the other person is more than three years older.
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Never thought of that Ellen!! You could be named an accessory by knowingly allowing such a situation in your home.
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In TX the age of consent is 17. If under 17 there can be no more than 3 years age difference if the defendant wants to use the “affirmative defense” of it being a consensual relationship. It also only applies to heterosexual relationships. The DA here said they want nothing to do with cases where it’s a consensual relationship because they can’t get a conviction. As a host I’d be more worried about them being young and the purpose of their visit generally and I’d contact Airbnb about the 3rd party booking.
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Not sure why this is directed at me… but I wouldn’t want a 17 year old because they are not yet legally responsible for their actions. Problem hasn’t yet appeared at my doorstep, but statistically, it will!
I did have one girl who was 17 when she booked, but had turned 18 by her arrival. Of course, I didn’t know this in advance, and well, she was traveling with her grandmother so not such a huge concern. What a lovely family that was!
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I was commenting on your comment and giving TX law as an example. I think it’s interesting that the affirmative defense can only be used by heterosexuals.
Oh, I thought I had put “CA” which I think of as California.
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You did mention the law in CA. You also said it’s not universal and it varies by state. So it depends on what state or country the OP is in. I only mentioned TX because that’s the state whose laws I am familiar with to make the example that it varies by state.
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I’ve had a similar situation in the past, before AirBnB, with May Long Weekend guests. Parents booked with a credit card but sent their high school age child and friends up for a drunken Grad party weekend. Security had to be called for noise and public drunkenness complaints, plus a painting was stolen. Never again!