Guest Charging her Commercial Grooming trailer with extension cord into my Airbnb

[Denise1555]

We were at our property next door and saw our guest's suv, with a dog grooming trailer (whole mobile buisness) hooked to her vehicle.  Then we realized she has run an extension cord from the trailer to the house.  I understand a guest may charge an EV and you have to write it in your policy to charge extra.  Isn't there a line though?  These are residential services for residential use.  There is no reason a host should have the expectation that they are agreeing to cover a guest's commercial business overhead expenses. Has anyone ran into this before?  

[Sudsrung0]

@Denise1555 

Got to admit never heard that one before, 

Is she running her business from your property? I think you could stop that 

[Helen744]

Denise1555 ring someone who also does this and ask how much this is likely to cost. One thing I am constantly amazed about is the different types of guest we encounter. Were you aware that the lady was bringing the trailer,but not about charging the battery ?. I would simply ask her and possibly say that you were unaware of her charging needs and simply express that ,she had not asked about it or told you it would be necessary . She knew , you didnt... H

[Frances3408]

@Denise1555. Did she include a dog in her booking? If she is running a business- are people turning up with their dogs or is she bringing them back to your place- then that might be unauthorised additional guests/visitors. Or is she just using it to recharge her trailer afterwards? If its running a business from your place then you can ask her to shut it down as most local laws dont permit STRs beyond accommodation providers if its not your principal residence.

Sounds like another rule is needed in House Rules about running businesses from your home and if you decide to allow, potentially charging extra.

You create the rules and draw the line.

[Denise1556]

I reached out to her and politely said that running a cord across the public city sidewalk was against ordinances, created a public safety hazard, and a liability for our business. I realized she does have pets and is staying for a month.  She may have been getting her dogs groomed? We are going to watch and see if the trailer is there tomorrow and if so  I'll reach out about it being a residential service we provide and try to negotiate an additional fee.  It has me thinking though, there is no way I could even imagine all the scenarios that I would have to come up with in my rules.  It appears the burden is all on the host to put in all conceivable scenarios in the rules in order to protect ourselves.  I did put a request in to Airbnb for clarification as to if commercial use of residential facilities is allowed under their agreement. 

[Frances3408]

@Denise1556. I'm no lawyer but ABNB does say both hosts and guests need to abide by all local government laws. So I dont think they are ever going to say its definitely permissable (but will possibly sit on the fence in giving a clear response, given how much they promote the WFH).

Maybe another host here reads this and has a more accurate answer. I know there have been many forum discussions here re managing excess power usage so maybe google those as well.

Apparently though we all need to be part time lawyers and yes, the burden is always on us.