Discrimination

[John-and-Jackie0]

I recently declined a booking because we prefer to rent to families.  A request came from medical students who wanted a place to celebrate their medical school graduation. They reported us to Airbnb stating that we were discriminating against their group. Do I have the right to decline a reservation for groups of students?

[Wendy-and-Frank0]

Students are not a protected class according the Fair Housing Laws of the US.

But familial status IS.

Is this a shared house or an independent site?  If it's a shared house, you have more flexibility.  If it isn't, you are bound to Fair Housing.

Make sure you save those messages where they specifically accuse you of discrimnating against students, and let's hope that you never wrote them to tell them that you didn't want "single" "gender".

Single falls under familial status.

Gender falls under sex/gender.

Good luck!

[David126]

AirBnB policy is not limited to any legal restriction, goes well beyond, they seem to have a point.

[Rachael26]

@John-and-Jackie0

This is an interesting situation and one you may be able to prevent - next time. Your house rules clearly state 'no parties' and I think that is an acceptable requirement for any listings and booking. But making sure your place isn't trashed by a party is harder to police once the guests are in place, and certainly a large group of unrelated adults staying would increase the odds of this happening.

The students have a point and it could be perceived that you were discriminating - besides the tick box 'not suitable for parties' there is no mention in your listing of family preference etc - just that your house can occupy up to 10 guests.

So - how to safeguard your property from this happening in the future and reduce the risk of damaging parties?

I would suggest you try by changing some details in your listing. If you would prefer families - either one or two sharing - then state a maximum of 4 adults staying and charge $250 per extra person (put in that box in the pricing section). This additional charge (which you will not ever activate) will put off any large groups from booking. And to encourage families, in your description you can add that there is no extra charge for children under the age of 17yrs accompanied by a parent in the booking ( to cover yourself from too many kids, you should state a max number of children - just in case the Duggan family requests a stay!). 

So there are ways around this problem. - Personally I do think you should be able to invite or encourage the categories of guests your property is best suited to. It should not be discriminatory to want to avoid your property being trashed by a group of single young people. So protect your property by setting your listing up to encourage the right groups to apply.

Try it out and let me know if you want another look over of your listing description.

Your property looks magnificent - and you are including a lot of extras and equipment for guest use (you do know that it will be very difficult to claim for any loss or damage of these items through Airbnb..... even with a security deposit.... but that is another post/problem for another time!)

Best Wishes.

[Rachael26]

@John-and-Jackie0

and one more suggestion in how to avoid potential discrimination accusations - next time you get a request from a large group that seems like it may be trouble (like medical students celebrating etc..) hit the decline button due to a clash of dates.... this will work one or two times before you might get penalised by Airbnb - just make sure you block the dates on your calendar BEFORE you reply with a decline request - then later you can open them up again.

[Joan243]

Was this airnb near Hanover Pa because we were just declined because I told them my daughter has a wheelchair and is disabled so I asked to bring a cot and they said no and that there were stairs.

[Matthew285]

@Joan243 did the host actually have stairs in the listing, or were they just making that up so they could decline you?

[Joan243]

they said they had stairs, I'm assuming they are outside. how do they know we couldn't navigate them? they also refused me to bring my own cot. it's a house where they don't let you wear shoes. it is probably because all they can think of is the dirt we would supposedly bring in. whatever the reason, it made me cry. so sick of stupid people.

[Christine615]

If they asked to rent your place for a celebration, that's not discrimination if you have a policy of "no parties."

I am very specific in my listing to say not suitable for parties or celebrations. That's that. And if they're local and wanting to rent the space that's what it implies.

But - drumroll..........I just looked at your listing. You don't say "families preferred" and it isn't rated as "suitable for kids" (none of those boxes shows up). What you do do is say not suitable for parties or events but that's not what the medical students were asking for. They wanted to do a last hurrah (note my apartment is not suitable for parties or events but my very first guests were 4 high school grads getting together for a concert before heading their separate ways).

Plus you do emphasize use of kayaks for only those over the age of 18. Everything about your listing screams suitable for the Med students (I married one years ago and can tell you that they are not all party animals out of control. Some are pretty mellow homebodies).

What would have been better is to make sure the Med Students understood that only the people on the reservation were allowed to use the space, that no loud parties or celebrations are allowed (in my city - for instance - it's part of the codes that we can't rent for that purpose).

I noted that your entire listing emphasizes the "fun factor" of your beach space. So you can't restrict to just families after the fact. If you turned them down, it's probably going to hurt you in the long run. Better to accept and ask for them to follow house rules. I suspect they would have been fine and they told you upfront why they were wanting to rent (unlike stories we've heard of people sneaking their intent).

Hope this works out. But i think they deserved the benefit of the doubt. Otherwise - change your listing to say up front - Suited for quiet gatherings.

[Joan243]

What's wrong with you people in Pennsylvania? I have been turned down FOUR TIMES this week alone by "superhosts" for asking to have my disabled daughter and I rent their houses there. 4 times? all stupid excuses or no excuses at all. more like super assholes. You are discrimating against handicapped people! What a bunch of idiots. Twitter has done NOTHING. I'm thinking of taking action. Anyone else out there want to start a CLASS ACTION with me?

[Letti0]

@Joan243  If you want to come to San Antonio instead I'll book you ;D You have a legitimate case 4 is not coincidence, that's blackballing on those hosts part. I saw your post on another thread the other day. It should not be this hard for you to be able to book some place. If I recall correctly stairs were not a big issue for you either. Unfortunately you may have to do what people who have true service animals do, don't tell them upfront. I had someone do that to me recently and I would have made better accomations for them had I known, but they have probably experience what you are going through and stopped mentioning it. I had a construction crew working on my cottage, they could have built a quick ramp, since once inside it's all one level. 

[Joan243]

Thank you Leticia that's so sweet of you. I really cannot believe this is happening. I only asked because I don't want to get there and not have a place to stay. It's stressful enough traveling, let alone not being able to lay your head down after a long trip. My daughter is my first concern.

[Helen3]

You could try ticking the box under the advanced settings in the search function,  for people who have accommodation that is  more accessible. Then you would know that most importantly it would be a better fit for your daughter and that the hosts have been happy to highlight this, so should be more welcoming.

[Lisa723]

@Joan243 this might not be something you want to spend time on, but you could ask a friend to inquire about the same dates and if they are accepted report the hosts to Airbnb, which does appear to attempt to take discrimination seriously. Unbelievable how heartless people can be. So sorry you are going through this!

[Joan243]

intersting idea but the dates were NOT the problem it's very clear, those dates were just fine. It's the hosts that are the problem. They need to be punished.