Unsafe home with no fire egress

[Michelle3362]

I rented an unsafe home that had a bedroom with no fire egress in it (meaning I would burn to death at night in the event of a fire since there was no window in the bedroom). I told the host I did not want to stay. Then I ran around trying to find a hotel for my family. However, both Airbnb and the host are refusing to refund me or make the home safe. I spent about a month trying to talk to someone with Airbnb who cares, but they constantly say "they tried to call but I did not answer" yet I have no missed calls.

Anyway, I called the local governing authorities and had the host's home removed until she corrects the building violation, but Airbnb has no problem renting unsafe homes. They do not care at all about the safety of its guests and want to force other to stay and pay for an unsafe home. Then they give the guest a run around, trying to wear us down... doing nothing to make anything correct... operating in full knowledge that they are breaking the law and putting lives at risk. 

I have come to find out that there are many sexual offence violations that have occurred in Airbnb's, since they have no safety standards in place. They are not going to change on their own. They do not care. If you have been wronged by Airbnb please contact me, so we can do something to at least force them to love someone else other than themselves.... lives will be saved from horrific harm or death.  **Thank you

**[E-mail address removed as per - Community Center Guidelines]

[Mark116]

@Mike-And-Jane0  Florida does require an egress window for a bedroom.  Some units might be grandfathered, I'm not sure how that works.  It seems like it was clear that there was no window from the listing.   I suspect OP will be successful getting her refund and in destroying this person's Airbnb business, despite what looks like about 200 great reviews.  Hopefully they aren't relying on the money.  

[Michelle3362]

She does not need to have her business destroyed all she needs to do is install a window.  I also sent her a copy of Canada's egress law and asked her to refund me and make the changes without me calling the authorities, but she refused. Sadly, she needed to be forced to do what is right. 

[Mark116]

@Michelle3362  I would guess rather than the huge expense of installing a window, the host in question would be better off to not list that space as a bedroom. Believe it or not, not everyone can afford to spend thousands on upgrades, this is why some code changes are 'grandfathered' for existing owners, which presumably you already know, but I doubt that applies to an Airbnb.   It does look like you are the only person out of 200+guests who had a problem with the space or what seems to be a morbid fear of fire considering it's a ground floor area.  The host has uniformly rave reviews.

But, you are correct that under Canadian law the pictured space can't be listed as a bedroom.  Therefore I suspect you will get your money back and the listings will ultimately be suspended/banned.  As I said earlier, I hope the host doesn't depend on that income to live, pay bills, support her family.

[Michelle3362]

Please know, I do not have a fear of burning to death; I have an understanding of law and knowledge of the thousands, who have not been able to escape in the event of a fire. My own employee's house caught on fire during the night when his air handler caught fire. His only way out was via the window in his bedroom. No window=death. It is just that simple.

But if people are ignorant of what can happen, they do not realize they are staying in a death trap until it is too late, which is why laws are created. It does not matter what floor a fire is on, if you can't escape, you die.

[Michelle3362]

I know it is hard to care about other's lives when we are so focused on money. But if one could simply put their focus on what is the greatest good for humanity, we would see caring about other's safety simply must come first. 

[Michelle3362]

I have not found any differences. They appear to be the same as far as egress goes. Florida has special codes for hurricanes, and I'm sure Canada does not have those.

[Inna22]

@Michelle3362 you are renting someone's home. While I do think they have a responsibility of describing things as they are, they can put up for rent whatever they want, even their chicken coop. You are getting little support here because you are posting on the host forum. As a host, I have had people promising to destroy my business and complain to the city because one light bulb was out. Most recent incident was when my house keeper brought a fully sealed bag of coffee in a bag that had Zoloft written on it. The guest claimed he was being poisoned. Perhaps your issue was legitimate but you misread the room. If you are focused on saving the world, perhaps your energy is better spent in ways other than destroying one host's life.

[Michelle3362]

I understand some people complain about anything, but I'm not doing that. There is one fact that cannot be ignored, it is NOT LEGAL to rent something that is against fire safety regulations. This is the law.

I know many people just do not care and as long as they are getting money, that is all that matters to them, but that is unethical. That is why someone must get a permit to rent their property, so the laws that were created to protect people will be insured.

But after people obtain their permit, they break the law and rent spaces that were not designated as a "bedroom" as a room safe for sleeping, which is wrong... and should not be tolerated. Somone is going to die becasue of this neglect and greed (what if it was your loved one... don't you care?).

If I would have known this home had a bedroom that had no egress, I would never have rented it. I should never be forced to pay for such an illegal room, and the owner should be made to correct the violation. 

It seems like all hosts care about is getting money... putting people's life at risk and breaking the law doesn't seem to matter. It is all about the money!!!

[Dana1259]

Hi Michelle, 

I am a host.  And I agree with you.  In America we have zoning laws and construction regulations to protect the public.  Just because we own a home that we want to rent out does not give us the right to violate those rules.  

There is currently a ground-swell of opposition to short term rentals in communities all across the country.  

If we (as hosts) continue to ignore good, reasonable feedback and violate existing safely and zoning laws; then our businesses will be shut down.

I agree it the OP that it is reasonable for a guest to expect that a room that is listed as a bedroom to actually BE a bedroom.  In the United States that means that room must have an external means of egress.  The host is aware of the details of the home.  To place the blame on the guest for not catching the deceit is sad.

As STR hosts, we are at an inflection point.  We can try to come up with solutions that work for hosts, guests and the community or we can cling to the 'wild-wild-west' belief that we can do whatever we want with impunity.

I do not think we will survive that challenge.

[Tamara682]

@Michelle3362is correct. It is not legal to call a bedroom a bedroom if a window is not in it that is up to code (i.e., egress) and if there is no closet. That's the law, at least it is in my state.

I spent $15k putting egress windows in my listing, it isn't cheap and likely why others try to avoid it (the seller I bought this house from was going to advertise them as bedrooms w/out egress windows) and she could have gotten in a lot of trouble.

Not to mention it is actually a fire hazard and Airbnb does have safety rules about that. More importantly however, is the fact that if there is a fire then she could literally be trapped and the host will much bigger worries than windows to deal with.

@Michelle3362

Just so you know, I've seen a plethora of complaints from hosts where guests were refunded and hosts had no say whatsoever, nor was it necessarily valid. As a worldwide company, you're not going to find perfection no matter how hard they try.

You don't mention 'how' you informed the host that you didn't want to stay there or anything else.

Always though it is best if you and the host can agree to a resolution prior to your exit and do make sure it is not in text, but in platform mail. That way both of you are covered and it gives Airbnb a more accurate state of affairs.

Hope this helps.