just noticed that Airbnb slightly changes the house rules without informing host.

[Annette33]

Beware - Airbnb is making changes that go against what host has stipulated in his/her house rules.

I am all for clarity and transparency - but what did I notice just then? 

In my house rules I checked the Airbnb box  "suitable for children 0-12" with a clear no, and that's how it was listed, as "not suitable...". 

But now I see that it only says "may not be suitable.....",  so that leaves the door open to guests, innocently enough, not checking with us about details, to bring children!  I wish Airbnb wouldn't make those subtle changes, certainly not without informing the host. To clarify, I repeated in house rules, as my own addition now, "not suitable for children 0-12.

Just wondering what else do we have to watch out for now?

[Ange2]

@Annette33   Thanks for the heads up.  Wow!  Same is on mine too.  How odd!   What's with the 'May not' when one has clearly said  IS NOT.  Maybe something to do with legal compliance, discrimination?  No wonder I have had people with children requesting. I thought they hadn't read my listing! 

I have added it manually to my House Rules as that is what IB guests have to agree to, to book, not to any of the filter Yes / No options!

Wonder how that impacts penalties for cancelling IB if you have not added it manually as IS NOT  after the automatically generated Airbnb MAY NOT.

[David126]

Has been mentioned a few times that they like making changes without telling people.

Very odd way to operate.

[Andrea9]

@Annette33

Thanks so much for sharing! The interesting thing is that in the two other languages I'm fluent in - German and Dutch - it is still in the old version 'is not'. Maybe the 'maybe' is Airbnb's way of navigating the slippery slope of PC slick...??

Well, I created my own back door to Airbnb's back door and simply mentioned underneath in my own house rule addition "No Children of any age (really not safe/suited)', ha!

[Annette33]

@David126, yes, so far I was only aware of the instant booking initiated by Airbnb for certain newcomers,  when they had not requested it.

[Maureen48]

Thanks for the heads up!!

[Sharon114]

Yes I noticed it yesterday.  There is a world of difference between 'may not be suitable for children' and 'no children'.  I choose not to have children under 12 because I don't want the noise or the mess young children bring with them.

Despite stating no children I still had a couple request to book for 3 days and they wanted to bring their 2 year old son - they would all sleep in the same bed.  I declined.

[Sharon114]

PS just added no children to our house rules to make absolutely clear.

[Sandra126]

Mine still says ''suitable'' (Australia). Thanks for letting us know, I will keep an eye. I read an old thread on a different forum about the changes implemended earlier this year about children under 2 not counting as guests, not sure if they changed the wording of this later? Certainly had hosts in a spin but it was before I discovered this forum so not sure if discussions went wild here as well. One very entertaining host (you know who you are L, if you are reading this) was most upset at Airbnb calling all under 2's ''babies'' instead of the more appropriate moniker ''spawn of satan''. Lol.

[Dawn33]

I missed that, @Sandra0. Haha.

It might have to do with the FHA here in the US. I had a bully asshat message me that I was violating it when I specified no children. He went on and on, saying that I was discriminating and could get sued.

[Jiw0]

> It might have to do with the FHA here in the US. I had a bully asshat message me that I was violating

> it when I specified no children. He went on and on, saying that I was discriminating and could get sued.

LOL.    Tell him you'd get sued worse with a high child mortality rate. 😉

Anyway the area where I'm really expecting discrimination issues to kick in is with special needs people.  Read the latest anti discrimination paper, as a host you're not even allowed to inquire about the severity of a disability.  🙂

So best to also tick that 'accessible' checkbox off while you still can.

[Lawrene0]

Thanks, @Annette33. Yesterday when I read this, I checked my listing and it still said "Not suitable" for the under-two crowd. Today it says "May not be safe or suitable". Thanks to you, I had a heads up, and was watching particularly. And so now I will be clear in my written house rules. My place is a treehouse on a riverbank. It could not be more unsafe or unsuitable for a two-year-old...

[John-and-Heather0]

@Annette33 @Jiw0 @Lawrene0 @Dawn33 @Sandra126

It is exactly about the FHA, and its only funny until someone does sue you and you have to go hire a lawyer . . . you can read our thread on "Nondiscrimination Best Practices" in the tax and regulation section. You can also find in that section DOZENS of posts saying "help I'm being sued, and AirBNB isn't helping" on that exact issue (discrimination against a person for having kids). AirBNB changing that language may be helping you out whether you know it or not.

Its important to understand your legal obligations, in your jurisdiction, for the exact type of home you are renting. The laws are different everywhere, and change based on short term/long term or whole home/roommate setup.

[Jiw0]

That's a good point.   It does seem that this whole sueing business is very centric to one particular country in the middle of North America.  

There is a whole nother world out there where people enjoy a bit more freedom on who to invite into their homes without having to worry about getting sued.

I sometimes get the feeling that AirBnB analysts are in a bit of a US (well, San Franciscan) bubble.