Building trust in our local communities

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Building trust in our local communities

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Building a safe, trusted community doesn’t end with hosts and guests. The neighborhoods you host in are an important part of the equation, and maintaining trust within these neighborhoods makes our entire community stronger.

 

We know that disturbances from Airbnb guests or visitors can have a significant impact on hosts and their local communities. So we’ve been working on a few important initiatives to help prevent those types of disturbances from taking place, and to give neighbors a better way to report them when they do.

Clarifying our new “party house” ban

You may have heard the news about Airbnb’s “party house” ban. We want to clarify that we aren’t prohibiting authorized parties and events. We know that most parties booked through our platform are organized by respectful guests for things like family reunions, baby showers, corporate off-sites, and more.

 

Instead, our goal is to address the small number of guests who act irresponsibly and those rare listings that become persistent neighborhood nuisances. With that in mind, the new “party house” ban covers:

  1. All “open-invite” parties and events
  2. Any large parties and events in multi-family complexes, like apartment buildings and condos

Your top questions, answered

What happens if a guest throws a party in my space without my permission?

Any type of unauthorized party—meaning a party that violates House Rules and is thrown without the consent of the host—is prohibited in all listings. First, we’re working to stop these parties before they even start by strengthening our risk-detection technologies. When they do take place, depending on the level of disturbance they cause, the guest will be given a warning, or may face suspension or removal from the platform.

 

What is considered an “open-invite” party or event?

This is when a guest or one of their visitors hosts a party or event with limited knowledge of the attendees. If a party is advertised on social media, or charges an entrance fee at the door, that’s a pretty good indicator that it’s an “open-invite” event.

 

I host in a multi-family complex. What’s considered a “large” party or event?

These are large parties or events like weddings, baby showers, corporate events, or something similar. This type of event is now prohibited in apartments and condos, even with the host’s permission and even when there’s a restricted, invite-only guest list.


Does this ban on “open-invite” parties or events apply if I run a boutique hotel, professional event space, or other traditional hospitality listing?

If you run a more traditional hospitality listing, you can set your own rules around open-invite parties. Still, even for these types of listings, Airbnb will monitor for any complaints and follow up with these venues as needed.

 

Can I still allow guests to host parties in my single-family home?

We’ll continue to allow hosts of single-family homes to make their listings available for closed-invite parties and events, which you can specify in your House Rules. We know that a “single-family home” can range from a farmhouse listing without any neighbors nearby, to a quiet residential street where even small gatherings are potentially disruptive. So we prefer to address these on a per-listing basis as opposed to a sweeping policy, which could unfairly impact certain hosts.

 

There are lots of nuances, but our goal in all cases is simple: If the parties are negatively impacting neighbors and we receive complaints, we’ll take appropriate action. We’ll start by working with hosts with affected listings to change their House Rules to prohibit parties. If complaints persist, hosts may be suspended or removed from the platform.

Improving Neighborhood Support

When a property that’s listed on Airbnb is causing a disturbance—whether that’s excessive noise, a disruptive party, or unsafe behavior—members of the local community can report it using our Neighborhood Support tool. Until now, though, that tool hasn’t been easy enough for neighbors to find or use. So we’ve been hard at work revamping it, and we’d like to share some of those changes with you.

 

Making it easier to access Neighborhood Support 

Community members can now find Neighborhood Support in the list of links at the bottom of Airbnb’s homepage and all other main pages. They can also access the link right from a phone without having to download the Airbnb app.

 

Connecting the community to emergency services

The Neighborhood Support tool now provides a link to local emergency services, so if a community member is facing an urgent safety issue, they can get the help they need right away. They’ll also have access to the new Neighborhood Hotline number, where they can report a party that’s still in progress.

 

Communicating with Airbnb

We know that in the past, we haven’t been good enough about keeping members of the community in the loop once they’ve submitted a concern on the Neighborhood Support tool. Now, when they report an issue, they’ll get a message from us explaining what happens next.

Keep the feedback coming

We know there’s more work to be done—but these are critical steps toward elevating trust and safety on the platform and within the neighborhoods that hosts call home. As always, we want to keep the lines of communication open until we get this right, so please keep sharing your feedback, and we’ll keep working on improvements that benefit the entire Airbnb community.

51 Replies 51
Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

I am unimpressed by this 'policy'.  And, good grief, come on, no one needs airbnb to link them to their local 911 or 999 or whatever it is in anyone's country!  This is a waste of effort and technology, never mind adding in a totally unnecessary step.

 

And, just based on a couple of recent posts in this forum it sure does not look like airbnb is taking unauthorized parties any more seriously than they did in the past. 

Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

Frankly, I really don't care at all if Airbnb has a 'party policy.' Everyone knows to call the police/911. I am not going to wait around while the Airbnb Party Swat Team "tries to reach the guest" from halfway across the country. Parties CAN happen to even the greatest hosts with the tightest security measures. Guests will lie as they did in Oneida. And if I have issues in my neighborhood, I am going to take it up with my town, not Airbnb.

 

In addition to prevention, what I want to see is more of a response/action from Airbnb after the party happens. Will the guest be able to trash my house AND trash my business with a one star review? Will the guest still be on the platform and able to instant book with other hosts? Will I be paid for the entire reservation after the guest is forced to leave? Will I be paid the guest's security deposit? (even though we all know that the security deposit is a joke in the Airbnb world)

Lyn57
Level 2
Wonthaggi, Australia

I’m still having guests book without a profile photo of themselves.  I don’t want to see their dog photo or one where their face is obscured by ‘fun’ glasses. I ask them to upload a recognisable photo but am ignored.  Is there some way we can notify you and you contact them to require them to update. 

Pauline441
Level 2
Durban, ZA

Rules and regulations are put in place that each guest should adhere to. An upfront deposit should be retained by Airbnb for any breakages etc. and once guest leave and host confirms every thing in order then they can have deposit reimbursed this will make them responsible to ensure your home or unit is kept in good standards. Nobody wants to be out of pocket whether guest or host. Something to consider going forward.

Neighbourhood Support :: giving neighbours ability to make carte blanche complaints is problematic.  I have a neighbour who is constantly giving me

a hard time about hosting on airbnb, regardless of guest behaviour... what happens when a neighbour makes a report? How is it investigated? It’s the guest’s word agains the neighbour

My neighbor called me directly.  I appreciated that.  Airbnb Thank You! For taking immediate action to keep my relations with my neighbors healthy.  Please be careful not to set us hosts up for problems with our neighbors.  

David6389
Level 2
Edinburgh, GB

There is no such thing as trust from Airbnb. I had a guest who I found was smoking cannabis in my house. Airbnb did nothing to help me. Instead I lost my superhost status because he had given me a really bad review as I was not happy with his behaviour. There is no point in calling for support. 

Exactly!  I just posted this on the Youtube video:  "Trust has to be earned. I'd be here all night if I documented the number of times bad guests who smoked, had parties, etc. documented rule breakers stayed on the platform, let them leave retaliatory reviews, gave them a full refund and re-booking discount, assigned a useless CSR who did nothing or did not follow AirBnb policies themselves, etc. I mean, like really, what type of person will leave a honest review when they are caught red handed intentionally breaking rules?"

@David6389, this seems to be happening all the time, specifically with the smoking issue. If a guest is breaking a rule, hosts' hands are tied under the current system - either we call them out and get a poor retaliatory review or we let it go.  This is not a choice we should have to make and Airbnb should remove such retaliatory reviews as a general rule.

The only thing I can advise is if you have a problem with the guest text or use the Airbnb platform to indicate what the problem is and just refuse to give them a review intern they cannot review you so at least there won’t be a tit for tat in the reviews but you will be heard and make yourself clear at some level

Tee-and-Mike0
Level 2
Palm Springs, CA

We have a group of nieghbors in our town that are very organized and punitive when it comes to trying to ban local airbnb’s, including false noise calls and planting trash on purpose. What prevents them from organizing and calling in bogus complaints to the neighborhood line to get listings banned?

Ingrid345
Level 8
Victorville, CA

Thank You! For the enhancements.  Please keep the improvements coming.  We hosts need your protection from new guests to them platform that think we are ‘like hotel’s,’ sex workers, 2nd party bookings, and being in a situation of being unsafe.  

I I think that you have to also be responsible for your own property.. I live right near my rental and I watch .. if I don’t like what is going on I throw them out .. call police... it tell them to go now... .. can’t blame Airbnb for everything.. 

Caiti5
Level 1
Atlanta, GA

A guest just hosted a party in my space and when reporting it to AirBnB it was as though nothing could be done about it.

I state clearly in my House Rules the guest profile photo must be a reasonable likeness to their 'official' ID. If a guest does not display an acceptable image I message them through the AirBnB app requesting a proper photo. I give them a deadline to complete this task. If no response I send another reminder immediately the deadline has been reached. An hour or so after that, if no response from the guest I ring AirBnB requesting they cancel the booking. AirBnB usually offer  to attempt to contact the guest which I don't mind. If there is still no response AirBnB will cancel the booking at no penalty to me as the guest has broken my house rules before they have arrived.
As a home share superhost I insist on knowing who is in my house. Anyone not prepared to ID themselves can be a pain in the bum somewhere else. Also, if something is stolen or damaged and a police report is required you can hardly show the police or your insurance company a photo of a family pet or cartoon character.