My request to accommodate a serious health condition has been denied

[Stacy337]

I recently submitted a letter from my doctor documenting that I have allergies to dogs and cats. This, combined with asthma, is a serious health concern if guests bring animals in to my property. 

The law states that an exemption is to be made for animals (including ESA and service animals) where their presence will cause “a threat to the health and safety of others.”  

I asked Airbnb for this exemption with supporting documentation from Kaiser and this is response I received from Airbnb:

“Rachel here. Thank you for your email.

Please keep in mind that Airbnb’s policies are a bit more robust around this matter than local and even federal regulations regarding assistance animals. Our policies on this matter are firm and in place, and by signing up to use Airbnb you agree to Airbnb’s Terms of Service, including our Nondiscrimination Policy as it applies to assistance animals independent of local law.

The extra cleaning fee may be used to hire a specialized team to provide deep cleaning whenever you need to accommodate an assistance animal and, therefore, avoid that you have contact with the space.

As mentioned, if this is not an option for you, it may be possible that this listing is not well suited for use as a short term rental on Airbnb. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience, and hope you can understand our responsibilities to our users with disabilities.

Our review is complete now, and we won’t be able to offer additional support on this case at this time. If you would like to give feedback about our policies or your experience, please use the following link”

Has anyone else experienced this?

[Kate867]

@Stacy337  It seems as though you have two listings, both for entire homes.  I suspect you would be able to claim an exemption if it is a shared home only.  

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/1869/accessibility-policy

[Stacy337]

They are both on my property, part of my dwelling space, and I clean them. 😞

[Mark116]

@Stacy337   It seems like this person does not understand Airbnb's policy, because hosts are prohibited from charging any extra fees for a service animal.  They changed their policy around ESA's so hosts don't have to accept them anymore, unless their state/country law mandates it, and they can charge extra fees.

You could contact another rep., go to Airbnb on social media or possibly ask for arbitration since your situation...medical condition that is documented, living on the same property seems to exactly fit the exemption that Airbnb does allow for service animals.

@Stephanie  @Quincy   Any ideas?  Is my understanding wrong that a host with a medical condition/allergy to pets who lives on the same property as the Airbnb would/could/should be granted an exemption?

[Jenny]

Hi @Mark116 and @Stacy337 

I've had a look at the Accessibility Policy here which states that hosts may qualify for an exemption if their health or safety is directly threatened because of a service animal.  

As an OCM I don't know the ins and outs of what the conditions are, but I'm passing this thread over to Airbnb to see if Support can take another look.

Jenny

[Jenny]

Hi @Stacy337 

I'm going to see if Support can take a look at this again for you - if I get any update from them I'll let you know - otherwise they should be in touch about this.

Jenny