How do you prove someone brought a pet without taking a photograph?

[Heather133]

I understand why Airbnb's trust and safety department will suspend an account if a host takes a photograph without a guest's permission.

That said, a colleague of mine who is also a host has just had her account suspended and it doesn't seem right to me. The guests brought many more guests than were stated in the reservation. They brought three large dogs (think St. Bernards) to a non-pet home. They smoked a ton of weed in a non-smoking property. They left drugs on a mirror. They left a door 6 inches ajar in -22F windchill weather.

Because there was a significant snow storm that weekend (two feet of snow) and they had many more vehicles in the driveway than expected, her property manager got stuck while trying to plow them out. They invited him inside while he waited for a tow truck, which took several hours because there were so many vehicles off the road in the storm. He was concerned about the dogs and took a photo of the three dogs and sent it to her. He reports that the guests were fine with it at the time. 

The guests called her and harassed her demanding money back and threatening a bad review because they had trouble with the driveway. She said no because the guests were able to get in and out to ski and the ones who remained there told the property manager they had no intention of skiing that day and were clearly intoxicated. She uploaded photographs of the open door, the drugs, the cars in the driveway and the dogs to the conversation with the guests and asked for an addtional cleaning fee. The guests have reviewed her. She needs to review them today. In the meantime, Airbnb's trust and safety department suspended her account because they say her property manager did not have permission to take a photograph of the dogs. 

The suspension is supposed to be temporary and was supposed to be lifted when she agreed to their terms, but she has done that and it hasn't been reinstated.

How else was she supposed to prove they violated her no pet policy?  If I had come upon this, my first instinct would have been to take out my camera.

[Mark116]

@Ben551  In this situation, as I understand it the person snapped the photo in full view of the guests, so I don't think an expectation of privacy would apply here.  They weren't using a hidden camera or a telephoto lense, but took the photos in the presence of the guests who didn't complain at the time.  

[Ben551]

Hi @Mark116 - yes, you're dead right.  But unfortunately the law when it comes to consent and privacy relies on being able to prove that the guests gave consent.  In this situation, they didn't get it in writing or on camera, or even via a clause in the house rules, so... it's one person's story against another as to whether consent was granted.  A lawyer would easily exploit this.  The burden of proof is also on the host to prove they obtained consent, not the other way around. Without proof, a guest can successfully claim breach of privacy.

This is why hosts need to understand the law fully and ensure they are getting evidence of consent in an irrefutable manner, in case trouble arises later.  Laws around privacy are slippery at best... so it's easy to get this stuff wrong.

[Mark116]

Airbnb will often tell hosts that there is not enough 'proof' that a guest broke the rules, there was just someone posting today about a huge party his guests threw but he has no photos of the guests so airbnb refused to even try for any compensation.  Yet, here, the guest is clearly massively breaking the rules and the host gets documentation and is punished.  "Privacy" generally isn't a shield for breaking rules or breaking the law, especially in someone else's property.  

It would be SO MUCH easier if airbnb did what hotels do, take a real damage deposit and if the guest wishes to dispute it, they do it with the credit card company.  This would give hosts more control, more security and would also hugely free up airbnb's own resources, as they would no longer be playing judge and jury on these types of claims. 

[Heather133]

Update - Much to her relief, Airbnb reinstated her account yesterday with the caveat that if there is ever another claim she will be deactivated permanently. The guests left a 1 star review as threatened. Airbnb contacted the host to say the guest hasn't answered or returned phone calls from the resolution center. Airbnb has offered to cover half of the additional cleaning costs. It's a shame about the 1 star review. Very difficult to overcome.

[Mark116]

@Heather133 Your friend might try to get the rating removed or ghosted on the basis that it was part of an extortion threat....we will give you a low rating unless you refund us....it's a bit of a long shot, but it may be worth a try.

[Susan1028]

luckily your friend can post a factual and truthful public reply to that one star review, which will warn other hosts, and, that one star review will likely stand out as a reflection on the guest when compared to the other wonderful reviews.

[Heather133]

@Mark116 I've encouraged her to ask. I hope she does.

[Christopher187]

If the story here is true, I find Airbnb's reaction to be bizzare.  Also, people commenting on photographing/recording, please understand that these laws vary state by state.  The advice given here about consent and notification does not seem to be we researched.

[Heather133]

Update 2 - Airbnb has still not been able to reach the guest and now has agreed to refund all (rather than half) of the additional cleaning charges. The person who informed her she's getting it all back told her she will have to appeal to the original case manager about removing the 1 star rating. She isn't very optimistic about that, but you never know. Worth a try. Crossing my fingers for her.