the more I research, the more questions come up, lol. I guess I am looking into worst case scenarios- so I can be prepared in case of emergencies. It is daunting- tried setting up my listing last night- and the host they have answering questions said you have to publish and then unlist- to finish your listing. I later thought good thing I asked- how would I know that- as there were very few description boxes to fill out… (such as queen size bed etc). Why not have all the settings available- as “in progress” -instead of giving you some and then requiring you to publish- etc…
You might want to get insurance in place before listing. Airbnb does provide sone coverage but many/most here feel it’s unwise to rely on it.
I really don’t understand you post but you can create your listing and then ‘snooze it.’ Google it.
Airbnb would like new hosts to think they will be covered, but the reality is that you are not. Making a claim for damages, etc, is usually a long, frustrating experience, taking months, being asked to provide proof of damage and proof of the cost of repair or replacement, and in the end, after putting in hours and hours on this and having to explain and submit the same things over and over again, having the claim denied, or them offering you $75 for a $2000 sofa that was destroyed.
You need to consider Airbnb as nothing more than a listing platform, getting your advertising out there to millions of potential guests. Don’t expect them to have your back- hosts are basically on their own.
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I quickly Googled the child discrimination issue you raised and was pointed to threads here. Yes, it is a potential issue. I asked you elsewhere a minute ago to tell us more about your intended rental to help answer your question.
My question is- I only want to host couples or singles right now- no children. There is a checkbox to mark off no children… But somewhere someone said they got sued for this. So I want to know how I can protect myself and if marking off this box- can somehow put me in some silly position where I can be sued by an unscrupulous guest. It doesn’t make sense but lots of things don’t make sense.
I don’t know laws in Canada, maybe someone else here might know for “Eastern Canada, whole house/cottage/bungalow/single family- one unit, live elsewhere” hosting situation.
It might be useful to know what province you’re in. Maybe also whether it is considered a residential area as defined by whatever laws apply to short-term rentals in your area.
Do you know the laws in your area concerning short-term rentals?
I found this. Don’t know if there is an exception for short-term rentals: Got kids? Find another place to live | CBC News
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I only allow children at 1 of my 4 listings. I stress in the description all the issues that make it unsafe - located on an extremely busy road, there are no front fences, the internal stairs are 150 years old and very steep and narrow.
Back area is used for car parking for multiple properties ……little ones are not safe
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@Letsgo Maybe I missed it, but can you describe the hosting situation you are considering? It’s difficult to advise you when we don’t know the situation, nor where you live or host. Is it an entire house or apartment? A room or studio in your home?
I’m a home-share host and only host solo travelers. They have a private room and a private bathroom and share my kitchen with me. The guest room has a single bed. So while I did mark not suitable for infants or children in my house rules, it’s a non-issue, because there is only a single bed and not enough space to put in a larger bed, or a crib, without having the room feel cramped. I started hosting in 2016, and I’ve never had anyone who inquired about, nor assumed they could bring a baby or a child.
BTW, I love hosting solo travelers. They have all been self-sufficient, appreciative, and respectful and I’ve met some awesome people, some of whom I still keep in touch with.
There is no “Airbnb insurance”.
As a host, you could be liable for anything that damages the guest. For example, they slip, fall and hurt themselves. A storm comes and blows a tree into their car. A fire. Or worse. You should always have liability insurance.
Tenant laws are different in every country and region. We have a 28 day limit, which prevents any problems.
In terms of “discrimination”, Airbnb has some rather illogical rules about this, particularly regarding age of guests, but legally, it’s perfectly rational to discriminate between different age groups, since statistically and verifiable, certain age groups are far riskier than others (e.g., groups of 18-22 year olds). And it’s entirely possible that the accommodation you offer is not suitable for children, lacking pool safety features, for example.
Any insurance company legally and necessarily discriminates different age and gender groups, for example, an 18 year old male driver will pay a far higher insurance premium than a 38 year old female. Because statistically, the former is a far higher risk. It’s simply a verifiable fact.
Does that help?
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@Letsgo I’d say you are overthinking the getting sued for discrimination because you check “not suitable for children”. I can assure you that tens of thousands of hosts check that box, ask guests who didn’t bother to read the listing info to please withdraw their request when they say they are intending to bring children, or decline the booking. Worrying about getting sued by the guest for this is like worrying about a guest burning your house to the ground because you said they would have to pay for the extra guests they snuck in. The chances are infintesimal.
And Canada is not a sue-happy, litiginous culture like the US.
Here’s an interesting discrimination story- years ago I applied for a Westjet credit card. I already had one credit card that I had had for about 5 years. Although I was about 50 years old, I just had never needed a credit card before that- I was a single mom with 3 kids, who had lived in the same small city on Vancouver Island for 20 years, didn’t live beyond my means, and just paid cash or cheque for everything.
I got rejected for the Westjet credit card, even though I met their mimimum income requirement, and had a good credit rating from my other card.
I forgot about it for a couple of years, and then, because my girls were now grown and on their own, wanted to do more travelling, so I applied for the Westjet credit card again, and got rejected again.
I called Westjet, who said that they actually didn’t administer those cards, a company called BSBN, or something like that, did. So I called them and asked why I was being rejected. The guy asked if he could check my credit rating, and I said of course. After a few minutes he came back on the line and said he saw that I had an excellent credit rating. And said nothing more.
I asked again, then why was my application being rejected? He hesitated before answering and then said “Well, it has to do with your age”.
“Excuse me, my age?”
“Well, yes. We would expect to see someone of your age having had a credit card for much longer than you have.”
“So you mean to tell me that if an 18 year old, who had never had any credit card before because they only just reached adulthood, applied for a card, you would give it to them?”
Another hesitation, and then, “Well, yes.”
So I got off the phone with him and called the anti-discrimination dept. of the Canadian govt., told them this story and asked if this was not considered to be age discrimination.
She said that it most definitely was, but that credit card companies and banks can refuse people for any or no reason, that the anti-discrimination laws did not apply to that.
There are plenty of seniors complexes where you have to be above the age of 55 or whatever, to purchase or rent a home, and they don’t get sued because of that, so I don’t think a guest would have much of a leg to stand on in court because a host has an adults-only listing, especially since there are lots of listings which do accept children. It’s not like guests can’t find anywhere to stay because they have kids.
If no hotels or short term rentals accepted children, that could be grounds for a discrimination suit, but no one has some legal right to rent an Airbnb they happen to like the looks of, if they can’t or won’t comply with the listed house rules.
The article that was linked to by HostAirbnbVrbo concerns landlords and tenants, not strs. Just make sure you have a 28 day or less maximum allowed stay, not take longer term bookings, so that you can’t be classified as a landlord.
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So @Letsgo @Debthecat makes an important point by listing in the description aspects of the listing that make it unsuitable for children.
But again I stress the importance of knowing the rules precisely where. you live. For example the rules in the city of MA where I live are different from the rules that apply in the same state but a different city (Plymouth), where they have very specific rules on many aspects of the listing (e.g., maximum occupancy).
I would think it is an easy thing for you to Google the STR requirements, if any, for your particular city. For example, there are no city-specific requirements for the city I’m in, just statewide requirements.
Thank you- I probably am over thinking… hahahaha… but a different
post talked about a troll going around in the US suing people who did
that-marked not suitable- specifically targeting them- but I believe
that was about 4 yrs ago and I think airbnb changed their wording…
I will try to focus more on the positive to get this done this week-
but wanted to try and prepare for anything that could go wrong and it
was slowing my progress…
I lived in Qualicum for a spell- beautiful area!
thanks again for your advice
What is air bnb cover- insurance- doesn’t that protect you if a guest falls etc?
Supposedly. But what you have to understand is that you can’t rely on Airbnb to cover you for anything. You have to run the gauntlet of their abysmal customer service dept., most of whom are clueless and to whom you have to repeat the same thing to endlessly to try to get them to comprehend what the issue is. You will be required to submit photos, and then some other rep will tell you to submit everything you’ve already submitted again. Then you will wait for months while they dither around, continually telling you that their “team” is looking into it. And then at the end of all that they may either pony up, offer you a fraction of what you asked for, or reject the claim.
The AirCover for guests is new, so no telling whether if a guest got hurt on your property and lodged a claim, whether it would be as much of an unreliable joke as it is for hosts.
It’s entirely at Airbnb discretion. This is not “insurance” or “guarantee”. Like, say, a proper insurance company. It’s up to the Airbnb agent who receives the claim. That’s not " Insurance ".
Proper insurance is required by law here, so for us, it doesn’t really matter what Airbnb does or does not do
Ahhh - so honestly I hadn’t thought of it as a product I’d license out. Amongst other things - I’m a developer at heart - so it’s just something I built for us.
We host a yacht, and have it listed that this is not a good environment for small children, multiple levels, steep stairs, the whole water issue, we do not have baby gates, etc. But we also have to follow USCG regulations that children 12 and under have to wear a PFD anytime they are on any outside deck portion. We have nothing against hosting children, but the safety issues are clearly detailed.
We only allow verified guests to instant book, so far that’s been working for us and we have had the best guests (granted we are very new at this!).
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Can I be your friend?
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