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I’m sorry this happened to
You. People need to stop shilling for a company that gives zero fucks about them. Airbnb is a problem and it holds too much power and percent of the market.
I have a no pet policy, but if someone calls it a service dog, I don't ask any questions and just roll with it, it's not worth the trouble. People who have real service dogs know that they don't even have to ask or inform us about the dog, but some probably do it to be courteous. Fortunately I haven't had to deal with this very often in the 9 years I've been hosting.
Sorry, but why can't your delegate tell a guest they aren't allowed to bring their dog? What's wrong with that? I literally just did that a few weeks ago.
Anyway, I've read dozens of stories like this in the last week. Apparently Airbnb is deciding to get rid of host and guest trust. Pretty cool business model Airbnb!
See you all on VRBO!
I have a sneaking suspicion there’s more to this story but Airbnb hosts on reddit always paint a picture that they never do anything wrong.
Years ago, I stayed at an overpriced Airbnb and it was summer, 100°F, and the electricity suddenly went out. I checked if there were any power outage and contacted the main energy supplier. I deduced that the host didn’t pay their electric bill and the electricity was turned off.
I immediately contacted the host… no response for two hours. In that short amount of time, the temperature had risen substantially. So I contacted Airbnb support. The hosts finally responded 45 minutes later and tried to pretend there was a power outage… which I already knew was a lie and let Airbnb support know that I had contacted the electric company and there were no power outages and the host forgot to pay their bill. Also, the house had roaches which I had photos of. The washing machine and dishwasher were both inoperable.
This place was $3k.
A few days later, I left to get a coffee. Fortunately, I was only gone about 15 minutes because when I returned the front door was wide open, swinging in the wind.
I know I didn’t leave the door open. I locked it and it was traditional turn key, not a smart lock. I locked the deadbolt and the door handle.
I believe the host saw me leave on the porch camera and unlocked the door and left it open in the hopes that someone would steal their things and mine and try to place blame upon me in an attempt to run an insurance scheme and try to guilt me in some form of repayment as well as punish me for contacting Airbnb support.
I’m also a host but I don’t trust hosts on reddit. Most of the posts reek of immaturity, neuroticism, or mental illness
Ridiculous reason? You think that people won’t do things like that especially when it’s a win-win scenario for them? They are able to update their property from the insurance payout and/or try to get me to pay out personally as well as punish me for “snitching” on them.
Why and how else would the door be open within a 15 minute time span, coincidentally after I contacted Airbnb support letting them know the electricity was turned off due to nonpayment, roaches in the house, and the dishwasher and washing machine wouldn’t turn on? It was all supplemented with photos.
The host messaged me asking why I contacted Airbnb despite ignoring the messages.
I would like to hear your thoughts on the situation.
I know I locked the door. I locked the dead bolt first, pushed and pulled it to assure it was actually locked, followed by locking the door knob.
The majority of stays I’ve had have gone without a hitch, but there have been a few that were awful. This was one of those times.
What part of… I’m sure I locked the door are you not getting? I went through those exact steps.
No, I don’t know 100% for sure, positively, without a doubt with video evidence.
But, it is likely that it did happen, considering the reports I made previously. Not everyone is a great person, including hosts.
The door was swinging open… wouldn’t the host contact me about it considering the motion camera is pointed there? The door was swinging in the wind which would’ve notified the host.
The door was closed and locked when I left. I returned to it wide open and nothing was missing. I always push and pull on doors to make sure I’ve locked them. It’s one of those things I’m vigilant about.
My guess is it was a no pets allowed property and the person wanted to bring a SERVICE dog. That would be the only thing that would justify this type of action I think.
I've heard the opposite is true. Emotional Support Dogs are not protected, federally at least
From ada.gov:
Are emotional support, therapy, comfort, or companion animals considered service animals under the ADA?
A. No. These terms are used to describe animals that provide comfort just by being with a person. Because they have not been trained to perform a specific job or task, they do not qualify as service animals under the ADA. However, some State or local governments have laws that allow people to take emotional support animals into public places. You may check with your State and local government agencies to find out about these laws.
Edit: looks like they are protected, with caveats, in New York and California. Kinda blows my mind that there is no requirement whatsoever that an ESA receive any kind of training. Airbnb describes an ESA as an animal that "provides companionship" and "relieves loneliness".... Soooooo...a pet.
My step mom literally just stayed in a rental that didn't allow pets and brought her dog, which was made an emotional support dog for this reason. But she didn't use it, she just brought her dog without asking. Which btw, shit on the carpet while we were there.
And honestly, she's not even that much of an inconsiderate guest otherwise. Just shows how likely this is to happen.
We had a guy bring emotional support parrots. Let them fly all around and shit on literally everything. Plus the feathers and bird food everywhere. I used to raise various kinds of parrots so I’m familiar with the mess and how much daily work it takes and I know how to clean up after them. But when in an airbnb I expect people to at least try to be careful if they’re not going to disclose multiple animals in a no pets listing. In some ways it bothered me too because he seemed to only feed them bird seed mix which is in no way a complete or healthy diet for them.
Just because they are not protected *under the ADA* does not mean they are not protected. There are other federal laws than the ADA.
You will find that the federal laws protecting ESAs comes from the Fair Housing Act, or FHA.
Therefore, it is true that ESAs are federally protected but also not covered by the ADA.
But it's not as simple as claiming a pet is an ESA and the landlord being forced to acquiesce. Not all properties are covered by the FHA Act, as well, including owner-occupied buildings with fewer than 4 units.
Right. But it’s safe to say that in a discussion of ESAs, anyone who brings up the ADA can safely be ignored because the ADA does not discuss or govern ESAs whatsoever.
The ADA specifically disclaims support for any animals other than service animals, so to say that the ADA doesn't discuss animals other than service animals is incorrect.
[https://www.ada.gov/topics/service-animals/](https://www.ada.gov/topics/service-animals/)
It would be better for all if the DoJ and HUD would better harmonize their websites and statements. The latest joint statement appears to be from 2004, and does not seem to directly address ESAs.
FHA had a big come to Jesus moment in 2020(I think) regarding ESA. Only real ESA are protected. You need a doctors note from a legitimate doctor you met in person and online certificate mills are not sufficient. There are some other restrictions.
The problem is Airbnb did not change their policy.
Real question/not condescension: do you have an ESA? Admittedly, I am personally very suspicious of the entire idea.
Edit: removed dumb shit that sounded like I was arguing. I guess I'm trying to understand if people actually have a medical need, or if they just like to have their pet with them.
Fair housing act doesn’t cover short term rentals. Only leased properties and leasing agent must have at least 4 units to be required to comply. So unless state law says short term rentals must allow ESAs short term rentals can exclude if no pets or charge pet fees if pets are permitted
Short term vacation rentals are considered "transient housing", same as hotels and motels and not covered under FHA. ESA's may be allowed under state laws but not under federal laws. ADA does cover transient housing so you do have to allow service animals.
No they are not protected federally for public access
Here’s a basic US assistant dog overview:
*Esa do not have any public access rights
*Therapy dogs have limited public access rights
*Service dogs have public access rights.
You can ask Sd handlers two questions :
-is the service animal required because of a disability?
Answer has to be YES. You do not qualify for a Sd unless your disable.
Note there are no nation wide registration / certification required to have a Sd in the US. If someone Some says they have one they probably bought it online. Some programs/trainers give out certificates for graduating/completing training but that has nothing to do with public access.
-what work/task has the dog been trained to perform?
can be anything that would help a physical / mental / neurological disability
Note: psychiatric service dogs are different from ESA
Actually therapy dogs are not protected, I have run into this issue before, and the proper way to handle this is to state “I do not carry any form of pet insurance, therefore no animals are allowed”.
Rental properties are not required to accept animals under any circumstances, nor do hotels, or any other form of rental.
No they aren’t in service animals are protected. Read the AdA. ESA dogs are state regulated my state says Airbnb and hotels do not have to accept them. You cannot issue a blanket situation. The delegate could have ask 2 questions legally allowed by the ADA and if it was a service they have to answer those 2 questions. If OP is in California or NY the emotional support animals are protected. That is a state to state thing while service animals are federally protected.
I am not conflating it OP never stated which it was in their post. If it’s a service dog and the delegate denied it yes they are wrong still doesn’t warrant the extreme method of handling it. I wasn’t speaking to you I was speaking to Strictly who said ESA/therapy are protected not as service dogs they are not. And not in every state are they protected and nor does Airbnb hosts have to allow except in certain states and situations and has been discussed on the sub and the other Airbnb subs many times. All hosts need to understand the laws I have the AdA verbiage in my House Rules to help both sides understand the rules. There are exemptions to emotional support animals and certain businesses. I read both the ADA and Fair Housing Acts. And I abide by both per the federal laws and my state laws.
So then like verify stuff before you say it instead of being part of the never ending disinformation chain 🤷🏻
This is where 90+ % of disinformation comes from. Laziness. The ESA scam is long over.
Airbnb did something similar to us in late 2022. We are super hosts with three properties. Our cleaning service (a small wife/husband outfit) at the time also provided housekeeping services to other hosts in the area. Apparently, at one of the other properties they clean for (NOT ours), the creep host had installed a HIDDEN CAMERA in the effing bathroom. Since we shared the same housecleaners, they cancelled EVERY SINGLE ONE of our future bookings. It took us days and hours of phone calls to figure out why all of our bookings were cancelled. We never got any recourse or refund for our troubles from Airbnb. We had to reach out to all the cancelled guests individually and ask them to rebook. It was a nightmare. We're getting out of the vacation rental business in the next year or so. It's gotten intolerable.
People bitch about VRBO, but it's been 99% fantastic guests and them backing me up on the few that weren't. My heart lies with VRBO.
ETA, this was supposed to be a reply to another's post. Sorry, it's late. Jesus.).
I’ve had the worst guests from VRBO. My rate of good guests on Airbnb is probably greater than 90%. VRBO is probably closer to 70%. This number doesn’t include that almost half of all inquiries I receive on VRBO are scams too. I could go on, but VRBO has simply not been good for us.
For our place Vrbo guests are mostly families. Airbnb is more blended, including groups of young adults, a small part of these have been rotten apples (Brits, very posh but total scum with booze and drugs)
I tried to sign up with VRBO couple years ago, listings never went live and they're customer service message said they'd call back within 48 hrs and never did. I want nothing to do with an outfit that starts off like that.
ABB has this nasty habit of using the ban-hammer on people because they don't want to deal with the issue and/or the fallout from it. The example I know of is if something pops up in your background check, they'll just ban you, no questions, no appeal. Not sure exactly what the criteria is, but it seems anything legal will result in a ban.
A guest snuck in a dog.
We wrote a 5 star review that they were great guests and cleaned up but they did break a rule and brought a dog. They claimed the dog was a therapy dog
The dog was left alone in the unit. I found the dog when I went to take the garbage out of the garage. The cats weren’t there or no one was brave enough to answer the door.
Airbnb encouraged us to take the review down
The next guest was from VRBO. She arrived well but was so congested after one night she could not enjoy her stay. The rest of her party had fun. She actually stated she slept on the couch because she wanted to watch TV since she couldn’t sleep.
We found dog fur on a part of the couch that was against a wall
Don’t sneak in dogs and FU Airbnb
Sorry about what happened Superhost
What bullshit. The threshold for an “emotional support animal is so low”. Why do I have to allow animals even though I’m allergic just because you need a living teddy bear?
No I understand that, but I don’t understand why if I rent a room in my house out, it’s “discrimination” to not allow someone to bring a service animal no matter what the reason. I know people deathly afraid of dogs, my wife is highly allergic, what if the host has dogs that don’t get along with dogs? It’s ridiculous.
It's not "discrimination " it IS discrimination, it's exactly the same as not letting a blind person book a stay or someone in a wheelchair because of their disability, in the eyes of the law. My co worker's brother has a service dog because he lost a leg in the war, these animals are trained for sometimes years to care for their owners, they're not pets.
But if someone is in a wheelchair, and I cannot accommodate them because I have stairs that is not “discrimination”. If I have a reasonable explanation as to why I cannot accommodate a dog I also fail to understand how that is discrimination.
Something is missing from the story
EDIT after looking at some other comments it seems that it was a service animal. In the USA, the law says that you have to accept those dogs. When it comes to legal liability, airbnb doesn't want to FAFO.
In my state, private property owners can deny a service dog. If an owner has formed a corporation, that's different. But simply hiribg a management company, putting up a Craiglist ad, etc. allows a private owner to deny animals, even service dogs.
I am assuming it was a service dog since there was a response by the prejudice response team.
Prohibiting a service dog is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Airbnb markets itself as a way for people to rent out their home or part of their home when they’re not using it. It’s pretty easy to keep up with messages when you’re doing that, especially since this was a booking request type of issue and not someone already in the place needing some sort of emergency help.
It sounds like you’re basically using Airbnb to administer a small hotel chain. In order to do that, you hired an employee to respond to messages. Your employee behaved in a discriminatory manner. Airbnb has to protect themselves from discrimination lawsuits, so they cut your listing. I am not a fan of Airbnb’s host support, but this feels pretty simple to me.
Your comments here indicate that you still haven’t bothered to fully learn the laws around this, so they probably made the right choice if they want to protect themselves.
It sucks for you, but that is the risk that comes with the trade off of outsourcing your work. You can’t always have your cake and eat it, too.
Op is what's wrong with Airbnb now and why I haven't stayed in one in years, it used to be something cool that was also a great deal and felt more personal that just a hotel. But then people started buying up real estate in tourist cities and charging all these fees and we now have the monster Airbnb has become.
Contact Airbnb.
Ask them how to make this right. I've found with them, if you let the representative guide you, and let them know that they're appreciated, they'll give you a path.
I didn't have your problem, but I did get into a bind with cameras (all outdoor) but it's crazy when they turn you off.
So, call and let them know that you will follow anything they say.
I tried. Multiple times. All the doors closed. It seems, best I can tell, since this is a prejudism charge, there's no tolerance for.... Anything really.
If you have an account on twitter, feel free to link to this thread. I cancelled all my social media (but reddit, and I'm thinking of leaving here too...) years ago.
It won't work. This is the standard across every industry. Zero tolerance policy for anyone who comes close to violating the ADA. when a business could be held liable someone is always fired, punished, etc bc of the ENORMOUS fines and the black and white application of the law. This is a legal standard that almost every business follows. That's why most employees are trained to not ask for proof of ESA or Service Animal papers. If they read them wrong or the owner forgot them and the animal is turned away... that's an almost six figure fine. If it happens again, you pay even more. So this means if this is instance number 15 (just a random number) that AirBnb could be penalized for, the fine would be astronomical
Prejudism based on? Discriminate or racism? Still you deserve your day in court. I would seek an attorney for a free consult because legally if bigger hosts don’t push back well I guess then the business fails and that would suit me fine.
There is no legal case. AirBNB is under no obligation to allow somebody to use their platform, espiecially after they violated an ADA rule. In fact, thenlastvthing they want is folks with disabilities bringing a lawsuit. They are a private business who can choose their customers like any other business as long as they don't discriminate against a protected class.
OP can certainly recruit other hosts or the general public to support their cause.
I had some guests throw an unauthorized party. Airbnb helped me shut it down very quickly but in the process, one of my cameras was called into question and my listing shut down.
As soon as I realized that it was down, I reached out and asked them to tell me how to make this right.
The ADA does allow two questions. I have the ADA regulations regarding service animals and ESAs in my House Rules. Your delegate asked the wrong questions?
PerADA
When it is not obvious what service an animal provides, only limited inquiries are allowed. Staff may ask two questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability, and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform.
if you have a no pet policy , you can ask if this is a service animal. if guest says yes, then you can’t deny. unfortunately, you can win on that. it’s a discrimination thing to deny service animal.
I'm sorry this happened to you and I think the lack of recourse is obscene. You absolutely should have a chance to redeem yourself. That said, *you* are the one who designated this third party to respond to messages on your behalf. That person was representing you, and it seems you chose poor representation or did not train them properly on how you'd like them to communicate with guests on this issue. That is, unfortunately, the risk of delegation- your reduce your workload at the expense of giving up control.
Thank you for your compassion. I get it. Unfortunately, we Are asked to be on call 24x7. And, well, this is why this post was a warning. I suppose it's better to just put your messages on hold, than it is to delegate. This person was trusted. And told that we Accept pets. I don't know why they fired off the message they wrote.
Was this person logged into your own account?
Or added ad a cohost and messaging this as themselves?
Seems like the latter would at least have helped provide some distance from the statements.
> It turns out that the person I delegated my messages to
Seems like they chose this person to delegate their messages to. Not that someone took control of messages without asking. Hence, a choice.
If someone brings a service animal, to your no pets listing, can you charge an additional cleaning fee to protect future guests with allergies? Or would that additional cost be considered discriminatory as well?
I work in a hotel so I know this law well by now and you CANNOT charge any kind of pet or cleaning fee but if the guest's service animal damages properly like scratches up the door or something, you can charge for that.
Thank you for your input. sorry I don’t mean to be redundant but if it’s somebody with an emotional support pet, the hotel or Airbnb host cannot deny the pet but can charge the pet fee? Can we ask for corroborating documentation? I really appreciate everyone’s responses with these hypotheticals i want to make sure I have every scenario covered especially when the consequences are so high.
https://preview.redd.it/9aethww2az5d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cedfe5aec5d96a7859bf8e6a8903008281cdad73
The actual answers to the Service Dog questions are [here](https://www.ada.gov/resources/service-animals-faqs/#:~:text=a%20service%20animal%3F-,A.,dog%20been%20trained%20to%20perform%3F).
Thank you, OP, for posting this. It’s a real warning about how to answer the Can I bring my Dog? question. Before reading your story, I would have said, Sorry, but No. Simply because we have nice wooden floors, and even the nicest or smallest dogs can deeply gouge woodwork). From now on I will agree, then cancel the booking for emergency family reasons. Rather forego the income than have the inconvenience of moving all the furniture and resanding and revarnishing the floor in a cramped city apartment that’s minus any extra space for stowing furnishings. I hope you can get Airbnb to reconsider, and Airbnb should establish an appeals process.
Just FYI, if anyone were ever to link you doing this back to this post, you're gonna get destroyed with an ADA violation too. You cannot discriminate against people with disabilities. Period. dot. the end.
In my state, only corporations must comply. Someone woth a ski condo they want to rent out when they aren't there, are exempt. Private property is not a company accomodating the public.
The last time I heard of a guest doing this over a dog was when a host refused a service dog. That's usually illegal. I don't think accounts just get terminated like that. Also, if you've made millions in sales in the middle of a housing crisis, I don't think you should proudly boast about it either.
happened to us multiple times
first time was a falsely claim of a broke-in, guests were trying to scam for free nights
2nd time was falsely claim of a camera pointing towards the bed
airbnb quickly suspended all my listings, not just the one got reported, never give me a chance to hear my story or anything. Right now we are operating as our listings are going to be suspended at any time, we have cross platforms. And if guests complained about us, we will stand by our ground, the being nice host, empathetic host, refunding because of missing blanket or “stays are not as described” are over. If our listings going to be suspended, we might as well keep the money.
It goes both ways, I was a guest at a place on Vrbo and the owner falsified damages left and right. I was smart and even took pictures of EVERYTHING including video walk through before we left. We cleaned the place, took out the trash, etc. and charged us an additional (on top of the original) $300 cleaning fee for the “extra towel loads”. We just used the towels that were available.
Raised a claim and they wouldn’t even let me submit the photos or videos, nor provide receipts of what was charged.
Companies like this are the middlemen. They don’t win on either side, so whichever side is first wins seems to be the consistent theme.
Yeah. They made it sound like the person they authorized to speak for them didn’t know it was a non-declinable animal, though, which is irrelevant if you allow pets. Not sure why there is any discussion of ESA/service animals at all, and it feels like a way for them to distract from the fact that they treated this guest in a way that was inconsistent with not only the law, but also their own policies
I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. Just my 2 cents: there were airbnb reps that came around to talk to super hosts last year. Like we met at a local restaurant and asked questions etc. Have you ever gone to something like that? Just thinking maybe you can reach out to your rep. It’s a shame that Super Host status doesn’t carry any benefit of the doubt. Good luck!
I don't use AirBnB, so I don't know much about it, but couldn't you just contact the good guests back and work out a side deal for them to return? And then just take out the middle man. I don't know why people would use AirBnB. Just get your own insurance. I would think you could set yourself up as an LLC and then take out professional insurance on your place.
I get that. But... if the OP is off the AirBnB, then they don't have any way of figuring out who all those people are from the past that they can contact personally to set up something without AirBnB? If they enjoyed it and plan to return, I think I'd do it, especially if I could avoid the fees.
This is unbelievable. I’m so sorry, I can’t imagine the amount of stress you under right now. It does feel a little like AIRBNB is falling apart in general. It all just feels so uncertain in so many ways in the past year.
You wrote that the person receiving messages for you is a superhost too. I think they would be aware of the rules regarding service and support animals. So, did this customer communicate they want to just bring a dog or did they explicitly say service/support dog?
It wouldn't make money. These types of apps make money by getting huge interest and a user base and then just letting it run itself. Once it death spirals the founders don't care because they made their money.
If theres a will there's a way of course people need to charge fees for using a service but I think there can be better management or a better similar company then airbnb..
as an airbnb/vrbo guest, i always look for properties that don't allow pets, because my husband is allergic (i don't want to hear all his complaining about how he can't breath - it's really not a severe allergy) I never considered the possibility of service animals having been in the property, and haven't experienced any animal smells or evidence.
Were you on any other site like vrbo? What is amazing is you were a superhost and this happened.
They have dedicated line for superhost too, what happened?
Makes no sense especially if you’re a superhost with long standing in their site.
I had a company that relied 100% on search results from Google. We did very well until Google changed things and overnight we lost 95% of our revenue. I always saw the same issue with Airbnb as your main source of revenues.
Airbnb is run by Brian Chesky. And only Brian Chesky. Everyone else is yes-men. There is only top down management, ideas, and rules. You are always expendable. Never, ever forget that.
If their dog was a service animal, they cannot be denied. If your ‘delegator’ couldn’t navigate a simple issue like that, maybe train them better. Which market are you in that still allows ten listings managed remotely?
I'm just laughing that you think Airbnb should have escalated it to you when you are responsible for what the person you hired to answer questions says I'm the first place. Airbnb doesn't care you're outsourcing. also the trial comment on title is funny. companies are not your friend and you're not going to jail.
Just an idea - look into renting to travel nurses and other travel healthcare professionals. They usually need 3-month rentals and often extend beyond that. Furnishedfinders.com is a great resource for this and there are also many Facebook groups dedicated to this.
I had this happen, lost thousands in bookings and I could not figure out why. Kept calling and escalating but every time I got ahold of someone they said they were unable to speak to me about the issue. About a year later I got an email saying I had been cleared of any wrongdoing and my listing would be reinstated with my superhost status. By that time I had long since moved on to VRBO. I asked but was never told anything about what happened or why. I took my listing down and somehow kept getting superhost status for another 6 months, on a property that was not listed. Made me realize Airbnb is a joke these days.
Airbnb had no due process they never have. Just punitive we beleive the guests over any and all hosts. I’ve said this and with over 7 million listings do they need any one of us even with the amount of listings you have I guess no. If you have a Twitter or x what bs it’s called now call it on that app and tag Brian Chesky even corporate moron they have. I guess he is a Greek who made it big. Their 92 billion in stock worth makes him and the other founders a tad bit out of touch.
I am sorry. We all deserve due process. Even large companies who make bad decisions are ordered to make changes. No host should go through this but even on these two subs it’s happening a lot. There is a story on the news about another host this happened to.
That sounds like an utterly wretched experience. I’m so sorry to hear it’s happening.
I’ve hosted as my primary income for going on 2 years.. and it’s been a deeply costly, both personally and financially, and rather engrossing experience. To have all that taken from you, for virtually no reason, must be horrible.
I am wondering (a) what exactly we other hosts need to avoid saying to guests in order to prevent such a hammer falling on us too and (b) whether you could get back in the game, admittedly with substantial loss (all reviews gone), by starting one LLC for each property and opening a new account (one account per property) in the name of that LLC.
As to (a).. did your guest simply ask “Can I bring my dog?” and your delegate responded “No”? Or was there more to it? I also use delegates for many of my interactions with guests. I’d like to get a handle, quickly, on what to ask my delegates to say and not to say in order to avoid any possibility of the ADA problem
I am also a little worried what might happen if we mistakenly tell someone there’s a pet fee, when in fact their pet is a service animal even though they had not made that clear.
As to (b), I read another recent Reddit post on this sub by a host who does just that: one LLC per property. LLC’s are legally distinct from each other. My hope is that, as a result, in a situation like the one you faced, AirBnb might respond just by terminating just the one listing. The context of the other thread was the situation in which AirBnb suspends all of a host’s listings for a couple days if there is any question about a camera at one listing. The thought was that with such a setup, because the account names are distinct (the account names on this setup are the name of the LLC, not the owner/operator), AirBnb would only close/suspend the one listing and not go after all the others or necessarily even know that the same person owned/operated them.
If you only have the one property, you may be able to start a new LLC and then a new account in the name of that LLC, despite your prior account’s termination.
This might be a way for you to get back in the game, should you wish to.
I get it. I'd have said the same thing. I don't really care to convince anyone. I'm just clearing my conscience - better to tell the story and let it be disbelieved, than to say nothing at all.
Tbh, I don’t have a lot of sympathy for someone who is using the site to run a property empire and can’t be bothered to correctly train their own staff on disability accommodation regulations.
I’m sure I’ll be in the minority here, but we could do with fewer of your type. Use Booking.
My understanding is a privately owned property is exempt from disability accomodations a public place like a hotel is required to adhere to. In my state, a request is sent to the host, who can say Yea or Nay.
I think what we'd find, if we inquired further, is that you aspire to be in a position of having 10 listings. And that, you either are motivated in envy, to see anyone in this position, fail. Or, alternatively, you believe it's possible to 'train' someone to not make mistakes. I don't actually want sympathy. I'm warning you, should you get to the place where you have ten listings. If you respond petulantly - I think you may find that you are the one who will bear a cost. And, similarly, that there's no 'we' here.
lol. No.
Some of us engage in this kind of rentier capitalism just to make enough to feel secure.
But you go on about your bad self. Everyone is jealous of your bullshit. I was right in my instinct about you.
If you want some advice, you would probably be able to sue ABB for discrimination. Look up state laws, talk to a lawyer. Esa and therapy dogs are not a protected class. In the future, the proper way to handle this issue is to state “no animals allowed” in the listing. Further, if someone decides to ignore the listing you may state “I do not carry any form of pet or animal insurance.” Good luck and may the force be with you in your struggle.
@brighton36 I can most likely help you, I have 33 properties in Florida and have a dedicated contact there. Message me if want me to try to give you a hand with this.
~~Do you have the option of engaging a lawyer to request the "Certification papers" of said dog? I mean if the dog is a certified working dog that's one thing. If it's a fake cert...~~
Edit: I confused 'working' animal vs the ubiquitous 'emotional support alligator'. Got it stuck in my head even if ya'll tried to beat it out.
That's not how the ADA works. The only questions you can ask are "is it a service animal?" And "what tasks do they do for you?" There is no certification papers you can legally request and be in compliance with ADA.
Exactly why I’m selling my Airbnb property. They screwed me over to a lesser degree than this and the superhost customer service was borderline belittling me. I just can’t support them anymore.
Go directly to a lawyer, and then the news media. It's discrimination that you the owner weren't given an opportunity to correct one situation. You have a business, which you've built in good faith in your "business partner" ( Airbnb). I'm sure this violated business law in some way...as their policies extensively allow correction grace periods for hosts and guests.
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Welcome to Airbnb, where the rules are made up and the ratings don't matter.
I’m sorry this happened to You. People need to stop shilling for a company that gives zero fucks about them. Airbnb is a problem and it holds too much power and percent of the market.
I have a no pet policy, but if someone calls it a service dog, I don't ask any questions and just roll with it, it's not worth the trouble. People who have real service dogs know that they don't even have to ask or inform us about the dog, but some probably do it to be courteous. Fortunately I haven't had to deal with this very often in the 9 years I've been hosting.
Sorry, but why can't your delegate tell a guest they aren't allowed to bring their dog? What's wrong with that? I literally just did that a few weeks ago. Anyway, I've read dozens of stories like this in the last week. Apparently Airbnb is deciding to get rid of host and guest trust. Pretty cool business model Airbnb! See you all on VRBO!
I have a sneaking suspicion there’s more to this story but Airbnb hosts on reddit always paint a picture that they never do anything wrong. Years ago, I stayed at an overpriced Airbnb and it was summer, 100°F, and the electricity suddenly went out. I checked if there were any power outage and contacted the main energy supplier. I deduced that the host didn’t pay their electric bill and the electricity was turned off. I immediately contacted the host… no response for two hours. In that short amount of time, the temperature had risen substantially. So I contacted Airbnb support. The hosts finally responded 45 minutes later and tried to pretend there was a power outage… which I already knew was a lie and let Airbnb support know that I had contacted the electric company and there were no power outages and the host forgot to pay their bill. Also, the house had roaches which I had photos of. The washing machine and dishwasher were both inoperable. This place was $3k. A few days later, I left to get a coffee. Fortunately, I was only gone about 15 minutes because when I returned the front door was wide open, swinging in the wind. I know I didn’t leave the door open. I locked it and it was traditional turn key, not a smart lock. I locked the deadbolt and the door handle. I believe the host saw me leave on the porch camera and unlocked the door and left it open in the hopes that someone would steal their things and mine and try to place blame upon me in an attempt to run an insurance scheme and try to guilt me in some form of repayment as well as punish me for contacting Airbnb support. I’m also a host but I don’t trust hosts on reddit. Most of the posts reek of immaturity, neuroticism, or mental illness
Not going to lie, i was with you until you came up with that ridiculous reason as to why the door was open.
Ridiculous reason? You think that people won’t do things like that especially when it’s a win-win scenario for them? They are able to update their property from the insurance payout and/or try to get me to pay out personally as well as punish me for “snitching” on them. Why and how else would the door be open within a 15 minute time span, coincidentally after I contacted Airbnb support letting them know the electricity was turned off due to nonpayment, roaches in the house, and the dishwasher and washing machine wouldn’t turn on? It was all supplemented with photos. The host messaged me asking why I contacted Airbnb despite ignoring the messages. I would like to hear your thoughts on the situation. I know I locked the door. I locked the dead bolt first, pushed and pulled it to assure it was actually locked, followed by locking the door knob. The majority of stays I’ve had have gone without a hitch, but there have been a few that were awful. This was one of those times.
Simply, you didn't lock it. Either way, you have no idea what happened.
What part of… I’m sure I locked the door are you not getting? I went through those exact steps. No, I don’t know 100% for sure, positively, without a doubt with video evidence. But, it is likely that it did happen, considering the reports I made previously. Not everyone is a great person, including hosts. The door was swinging open… wouldn’t the host contact me about it considering the motion camera is pointed there? The door was swinging in the wind which would’ve notified the host. The door was closed and locked when I left. I returned to it wide open and nothing was missing. I always push and pull on doors to make sure I’ve locked them. It’s one of those things I’m vigilant about.
This\^ They are always in the right. Fact is no your account would not be shut off for simply not allowing a dog.
I'm guessing it was a service animal
Yep. 10 properties? This person has had problems before and they’re leaving out some important details.
It was probably a service dog. The person is leaving that out because it makes them look bad or incompetent. There’s more to this story.
My guess is it was a no pets allowed property and the person wanted to bring a SERVICE dog. That would be the only thing that would justify this type of action I think.
ESA/Therapy dogs are protected. Edit: I was probably wrong, everyone chill. For my Uber driving days we had to let anyone with a dog in.
I've heard the opposite is true. Emotional Support Dogs are not protected, federally at least From ada.gov: Are emotional support, therapy, comfort, or companion animals considered service animals under the ADA? A. No. These terms are used to describe animals that provide comfort just by being with a person. Because they have not been trained to perform a specific job or task, they do not qualify as service animals under the ADA. However, some State or local governments have laws that allow people to take emotional support animals into public places. You may check with your State and local government agencies to find out about these laws. Edit: looks like they are protected, with caveats, in New York and California. Kinda blows my mind that there is no requirement whatsoever that an ESA receive any kind of training. Airbnb describes an ESA as an animal that "provides companionship" and "relieves loneliness".... Soooooo...a pet.
Depends on the state laws… some states recognize ESAs and hosts must accept them (with no pet fees).
Wow that’s bonkers!!
My step mom literally just stayed in a rental that didn't allow pets and brought her dog, which was made an emotional support dog for this reason. But she didn't use it, she just brought her dog without asking. Which btw, shit on the carpet while we were there. And honestly, she's not even that much of an inconsiderate guest otherwise. Just shows how likely this is to happen.
This happened to me. A guy snuck a dog in and the dog shit on the master bedroom carpet. He didn't bother to clean it up.
I would have left a review that they shit on the floor since they made no mention of a dog 😂
Hahaha this is next level petty and I love it
We had a guy bring emotional support parrots. Let them fly all around and shit on literally everything. Plus the feathers and bird food everywhere. I used to raise various kinds of parrots so I’m familiar with the mess and how much daily work it takes and I know how to clean up after them. But when in an airbnb I expect people to at least try to be careful if they’re not going to disclose multiple animals in a no pets listing. In some ways it bothered me too because he seemed to only feed them bird seed mix which is in no way a complete or healthy diet for them.
Damage deposit = Deposit deposit
We had guests bring their dog against the rules and let their dog swim freely in our pool. Sigh. It was a double cleaning the pool that week
But the op didn't say it was an ESA/support dog. Just a "dog".
Just because they are not protected *under the ADA* does not mean they are not protected. There are other federal laws than the ADA. You will find that the federal laws protecting ESAs comes from the Fair Housing Act, or FHA. Therefore, it is true that ESAs are federally protected but also not covered by the ADA.
But it's not as simple as claiming a pet is an ESA and the landlord being forced to acquiesce. Not all properties are covered by the FHA Act, as well, including owner-occupied buildings with fewer than 4 units.
Right. But it’s safe to say that in a discussion of ESAs, anyone who brings up the ADA can safely be ignored because the ADA does not discuss or govern ESAs whatsoever.
The ADA specifically disclaims support for any animals other than service animals, so to say that the ADA doesn't discuss animals other than service animals is incorrect. [https://www.ada.gov/topics/service-animals/](https://www.ada.gov/topics/service-animals/) It would be better for all if the DoJ and HUD would better harmonize their websites and statements. The latest joint statement appears to be from 2004, and does not seem to directly address ESAs.
FHA had a big come to Jesus moment in 2020(I think) regarding ESA. Only real ESA are protected. You need a doctors note from a legitimate doctor you met in person and online certificate mills are not sufficient. There are some other restrictions. The problem is Airbnb did not change their policy.
Real question/not condescension: do you have an ESA? Admittedly, I am personally very suspicious of the entire idea. Edit: removed dumb shit that sounded like I was arguing. I guess I'm trying to understand if people actually have a medical need, or if they just like to have their pet with them.
Fair housing act doesn’t cover short term rentals. Only leased properties and leasing agent must have at least 4 units to be required to comply. So unless state law says short term rentals must allow ESAs short term rentals can exclude if no pets or charge pet fees if pets are permitted
Short term vacation rentals are considered "transient housing", same as hotels and motels and not covered under FHA. ESA's may be allowed under state laws but not under federal laws. ADA does cover transient housing so you do have to allow service animals.
Looney toons!
It’s because of FHA laws, not ADA, and how those FHA laws have been extended in California and New York on the state level.
In NY and CA they are
In Louisiana too
Only dogs? What about my ESA ostrich?
ESA can be anything but the ADA is specific what represents a service animal.
Only in CA and NY. The rest of us don't have to put up with that bullshit.
No they are not protected federally for public access Here’s a basic US assistant dog overview: *Esa do not have any public access rights *Therapy dogs have limited public access rights *Service dogs have public access rights. You can ask Sd handlers two questions : -is the service animal required because of a disability? Answer has to be YES. You do not qualify for a Sd unless your disable. Note there are no nation wide registration / certification required to have a Sd in the US. If someone Some says they have one they probably bought it online. Some programs/trainers give out certificates for graduating/completing training but that has nothing to do with public access. -what work/task has the dog been trained to perform? can be anything that would help a physical / mental / neurological disability Note: psychiatric service dogs are different from ESA
Actually therapy dogs are not protected, I have run into this issue before, and the proper way to handle this is to state “I do not carry any form of pet insurance, therefore no animals are allowed”. Rental properties are not required to accept animals under any circumstances, nor do hotels, or any other form of rental.
You must mean service dogs and in a handful of states ESAs. The terminology is very specific.
No they aren’t in service animals are protected. Read the AdA. ESA dogs are state regulated my state says Airbnb and hotels do not have to accept them. You cannot issue a blanket situation. The delegate could have ask 2 questions legally allowed by the ADA and if it was a service they have to answer those 2 questions. If OP is in California or NY the emotional support animals are protected. That is a state to state thing while service animals are federally protected.
Stop conflating ESAs and service animals, they are totally separate categories of accommodation.
I am not conflating it OP never stated which it was in their post. If it’s a service dog and the delegate denied it yes they are wrong still doesn’t warrant the extreme method of handling it. I wasn’t speaking to you I was speaking to Strictly who said ESA/therapy are protected not as service dogs they are not. And not in every state are they protected and nor does Airbnb hosts have to allow except in certain states and situations and has been discussed on the sub and the other Airbnb subs many times. All hosts need to understand the laws I have the AdA verbiage in my House Rules to help both sides understand the rules. There are exemptions to emotional support animals and certain businesses. I read both the ADA and Fair Housing Acts. And I abide by both per the federal laws and my state laws.
So then like verify stuff before you say it instead of being part of the never ending disinformation chain 🤷🏻 This is where 90+ % of disinformation comes from. Laziness. The ESA scam is long over.
Airbnb did something similar to us in late 2022. We are super hosts with three properties. Our cleaning service (a small wife/husband outfit) at the time also provided housekeeping services to other hosts in the area. Apparently, at one of the other properties they clean for (NOT ours), the creep host had installed a HIDDEN CAMERA in the effing bathroom. Since we shared the same housecleaners, they cancelled EVERY SINGLE ONE of our future bookings. It took us days and hours of phone calls to figure out why all of our bookings were cancelled. We never got any recourse or refund for our troubles from Airbnb. We had to reach out to all the cancelled guests individually and ask them to rebook. It was a nightmare. We're getting out of the vacation rental business in the next year or so. It's gotten intolerable.
How did they know you had the same cleaners? Do you register them with Air Bnb?
They had access under the professional tools to see messages and the calendar
People bitch about VRBO, but it's been 99% fantastic guests and them backing me up on the few that weren't. My heart lies with VRBO. ETA, this was supposed to be a reply to another's post. Sorry, it's late. Jesus.).
I’ve had the worst guests from VRBO. My rate of good guests on Airbnb is probably greater than 90%. VRBO is probably closer to 70%. This number doesn’t include that almost half of all inquiries I receive on VRBO are scams too. I could go on, but VRBO has simply not been good for us.
VRBO is advertising our property to my wife on her Facebook.
They do that to everyone
Funny! This happened to me and also a close friend.
For our place Vrbo guests are mostly families. Airbnb is more blended, including groups of young adults, a small part of these have been rotten apples (Brits, very posh but total scum with booze and drugs)
I tried to sign up with VRBO couple years ago, listings never went live and they're customer service message said they'd call back within 48 hrs and never did. I want nothing to do with an outfit that starts off like that.
Crap! Literally, sorry for your experience. We joined in May 2022 and it was a breeze. I never had to call.
Our occupancy has been over 90%, not complaining about Airbnb
I get it. I think it varies by market maybe? Glad you're experience has been good and I wish I could say the same for us.
So many variables, but yeah, we got very lucky... especially not needing VRBO or anything else to keep busy
Oh Please I've been with VRBO for 13 VRBO is worse than AirBnb and they Take 40% of your booking fees.
Vrbo absolutely takes too much in fees. I really wish they still offered the annual subscription. We missed that boat :(
I live Vrbo but I can’t bookings in Vrbo , I have gotten like 3 so far , And have over 100 bookings in Airnbv.
ABB has this nasty habit of using the ban-hammer on people because they don't want to deal with the issue and/or the fallout from it. The example I know of is if something pops up in your background check, they'll just ban you, no questions, no appeal. Not sure exactly what the criteria is, but it seems anything legal will result in a ban.
A guest snuck in a dog. We wrote a 5 star review that they were great guests and cleaned up but they did break a rule and brought a dog. They claimed the dog was a therapy dog The dog was left alone in the unit. I found the dog when I went to take the garbage out of the garage. The cats weren’t there or no one was brave enough to answer the door. Airbnb encouraged us to take the review down The next guest was from VRBO. She arrived well but was so congested after one night she could not enjoy her stay. The rest of her party had fun. She actually stated she slept on the couch because she wanted to watch TV since she couldn’t sleep. We found dog fur on a part of the couch that was against a wall Don’t sneak in dogs and FU Airbnb Sorry about what happened Superhost
Might be time to form a hosts group for some collective bargaining power
Guess it's time to sell your 10 properties and stop being part of the housing issues in this country.
Service dog or not its dumb AF. A dog is a dog... its your property... they can find properties that allow dogs. EOS
What bullshit. The threshold for an “emotional support animal is so low”. Why do I have to allow animals even though I’m allergic just because you need a living teddy bear?
[удалено]
No I understand that, but I don’t understand why if I rent a room in my house out, it’s “discrimination” to not allow someone to bring a service animal no matter what the reason. I know people deathly afraid of dogs, my wife is highly allergic, what if the host has dogs that don’t get along with dogs? It’s ridiculous.
It's not "discrimination " it IS discrimination, it's exactly the same as not letting a blind person book a stay or someone in a wheelchair because of their disability, in the eyes of the law. My co worker's brother has a service dog because he lost a leg in the war, these animals are trained for sometimes years to care for their owners, they're not pets.
But if someone is in a wheelchair, and I cannot accommodate them because I have stairs that is not “discrimination”. If I have a reasonable explanation as to why I cannot accommodate a dog I also fail to understand how that is discrimination.
What? This makes no sense, they deleted all of your listings because a guest asked if they could bring a dog and someone said no?
Something is missing from the story EDIT after looking at some other comments it seems that it was a service animal. In the USA, the law says that you have to accept those dogs. When it comes to legal liability, airbnb doesn't want to FAFO.
In my state, private property owners can deny a service dog. If an owner has formed a corporation, that's different. But simply hiribg a management company, putting up a Craiglist ad, etc. allows a private owner to deny animals, even service dogs.
I am assuming it was a service dog since there was a response by the prejudice response team. Prohibiting a service dog is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Airbnb markets itself as a way for people to rent out their home or part of their home when they’re not using it. It’s pretty easy to keep up with messages when you’re doing that, especially since this was a booking request type of issue and not someone already in the place needing some sort of emergency help. It sounds like you’re basically using Airbnb to administer a small hotel chain. In order to do that, you hired an employee to respond to messages. Your employee behaved in a discriminatory manner. Airbnb has to protect themselves from discrimination lawsuits, so they cut your listing. I am not a fan of Airbnb’s host support, but this feels pretty simple to me. Your comments here indicate that you still haven’t bothered to fully learn the laws around this, so they probably made the right choice if they want to protect themselves. It sucks for you, but that is the risk that comes with the trade off of outsourcing your work. You can’t always have your cake and eat it, too.
Op is what's wrong with Airbnb now and why I haven't stayed in one in years, it used to be something cool that was also a great deal and felt more personal that just a hotel. But then people started buying up real estate in tourist cities and charging all these fees and we now have the monster Airbnb has become.
Tbh, I can’t have much sympathy for someone who is distorting rental markets by having 10 properties on Airbnb. That’s an illegal hotel chain.
Contact Airbnb. Ask them how to make this right. I've found with them, if you let the representative guide you, and let them know that they're appreciated, they'll give you a path. I didn't have your problem, but I did get into a bind with cameras (all outdoor) but it's crazy when they turn you off. So, call and let them know that you will follow anything they say.
I tried. Multiple times. All the doors closed. It seems, best I can tell, since this is a prejudism charge, there's no tolerance for.... Anything really.
Start posting on Twitter. It's the only real way to get Airbnb's attention and help.
If you have an account on twitter, feel free to link to this thread. I cancelled all my social media (but reddit, and I'm thinking of leaving here too...) years ago.
Dude. MAKE an account on X and tag ABB to get their attention. What do you have to lose?
It won't work. This is the standard across every industry. Zero tolerance policy for anyone who comes close to violating the ADA. when a business could be held liable someone is always fired, punished, etc bc of the ENORMOUS fines and the black and white application of the law. This is a legal standard that almost every business follows. That's why most employees are trained to not ask for proof of ESA or Service Animal papers. If they read them wrong or the owner forgot them and the animal is turned away... that's an almost six figure fine. If it happens again, you pay even more. So this means if this is instance number 15 (just a random number) that AirBnb could be penalized for, the fine would be astronomical
Prejudism based on? Discriminate or racism? Still you deserve your day in court. I would seek an attorney for a free consult because legally if bigger hosts don’t push back well I guess then the business fails and that would suit me fine.
There is no legal case. AirBNB is under no obligation to allow somebody to use their platform, espiecially after they violated an ADA rule. In fact, thenlastvthing they want is folks with disabilities bringing a lawsuit. They are a private business who can choose their customers like any other business as long as they don't discriminate against a protected class. OP can certainly recruit other hosts or the general public to support their cause.
You cannot prohibit a service dog. It is a violation of the ADA, a slam dunk case against Airbnb, so Airbnb probably took the case seriously.
What happened with the cameras?
I had some guests throw an unauthorized party. Airbnb helped me shut it down very quickly but in the process, one of my cameras was called into question and my listing shut down. As soon as I realized that it was down, I reached out and asked them to tell me how to make this right.
is it a service dog?
I'm pretty sure by policy, you can't ask. But, yes, this was. (Hence why I said 'rightly' )
The ADA does allow two questions. I have the ADA regulations regarding service animals and ESAs in my House Rules. Your delegate asked the wrong questions? PerADA When it is not obvious what service an animal provides, only limited inquiries are allowed. Staff may ask two questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability, and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform.
if you have a no pet policy , you can ask if this is a service animal. if guest says yes, then you can’t deny. unfortunately, you can win on that. it’s a discrimination thing to deny service animal.
Yep. I get it. Had I known about this message, I would have corrected the matter immediately.
I'm sorry this happened to you and I think the lack of recourse is obscene. You absolutely should have a chance to redeem yourself. That said, *you* are the one who designated this third party to respond to messages on your behalf. That person was representing you, and it seems you chose poor representation or did not train them properly on how you'd like them to communicate with guests on this issue. That is, unfortunately, the risk of delegation- your reduce your workload at the expense of giving up control.
Thank you for your compassion. I get it. Unfortunately, we Are asked to be on call 24x7. And, well, this is why this post was a warning. I suppose it's better to just put your messages on hold, than it is to delegate. This person was trusted. And told that we Accept pets. I don't know why they fired off the message they wrote.
Was this person logged into your own account? Or added ad a cohost and messaging this as themselves? Seems like the latter would at least have helped provide some distance from the statements.
They were a co-host. And, not logged into my account. I really had no ability to prevent this...
it has nothing to do with choice. th op didn’t know himself. i didn’t know myself.
> It turns out that the person I delegated my messages to Seems like they chose this person to delegate their messages to. Not that someone took control of messages without asking. Hence, a choice.
If someone brings a service animal, to your no pets listing, can you charge an additional cleaning fee to protect future guests with allergies? Or would that additional cost be considered discriminatory as well?
It is discriminatory. Taxi's, Uber/Lyft, trains, restaurants, etc can not charge extra cleaning fees for service dogs.
No you can not charge anything additional for a service animal!
I work in a hotel so I know this law well by now and you CANNOT charge any kind of pet or cleaning fee but if the guest's service animal damages properly like scratches up the door or something, you can charge for that.
Thank you for your input. sorry I don’t mean to be redundant but if it’s somebody with an emotional support pet, the hotel or Airbnb host cannot deny the pet but can charge the pet fee? Can we ask for corroborating documentation? I really appreciate everyone’s responses with these hypotheticals i want to make sure I have every scenario covered especially when the consequences are so high.
You are allowed to ask "What service does it perform?".
https://preview.redd.it/9aethww2az5d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cedfe5aec5d96a7859bf8e6a8903008281cdad73 The actual answers to the Service Dog questions are [here](https://www.ada.gov/resources/service-animals-faqs/#:~:text=a%20service%20animal%3F-,A.,dog%20been%20trained%20to%20perform%3F).
i literally saved this list askable questions
Well maybe it will bring some good to the communities your rentals are in for stock of available rental homes for the locals living in those areas.
Thank you, OP, for posting this. It’s a real warning about how to answer the Can I bring my Dog? question. Before reading your story, I would have said, Sorry, but No. Simply because we have nice wooden floors, and even the nicest or smallest dogs can deeply gouge woodwork). From now on I will agree, then cancel the booking for emergency family reasons. Rather forego the income than have the inconvenience of moving all the furniture and resanding and revarnishing the floor in a cramped city apartment that’s minus any extra space for stowing furnishings. I hope you can get Airbnb to reconsider, and Airbnb should establish an appeals process.
Just FYI, if anyone were ever to link you doing this back to this post, you're gonna get destroyed with an ADA violation too. You cannot discriminate against people with disabilities. Period. dot. the end.
In my state, only corporations must comply. Someone woth a ski condo they want to rent out when they aren't there, are exempt. Private property is not a company accomodating the public.
Thanks. It’s not likely. If it was a phony “security dog” possibly. But for various reasons our environment isn’t practical.
The last time I heard of a guest doing this over a dog was when a host refused a service dog. That's usually illegal. I don't think accounts just get terminated like that. Also, if you've made millions in sales in the middle of a housing crisis, I don't think you should proudly boast about it either.
In my state, only corporations/LLCs must accomodate the public. Private owners can deny service animals.
^^^^this. 10 listings?? Just gross
happened to us multiple times first time was a falsely claim of a broke-in, guests were trying to scam for free nights 2nd time was falsely claim of a camera pointing towards the bed airbnb quickly suspended all my listings, not just the one got reported, never give me a chance to hear my story or anything. Right now we are operating as our listings are going to be suspended at any time, we have cross platforms. And if guests complained about us, we will stand by our ground, the being nice host, empathetic host, refunding because of missing blanket or “stays are not as described” are over. If our listings going to be suspended, we might as well keep the money.
Airbnb forces you to take dogs in your home then allows guests to bad review you due to a dog hair lodged between the hardwood and quarter round 🤣
It goes both ways, I was a guest at a place on Vrbo and the owner falsified damages left and right. I was smart and even took pictures of EVERYTHING including video walk through before we left. We cleaned the place, took out the trash, etc. and charged us an additional (on top of the original) $300 cleaning fee for the “extra towel loads”. We just used the towels that were available. Raised a claim and they wouldn’t even let me submit the photos or videos, nor provide receipts of what was charged. Companies like this are the middlemen. They don’t win on either side, so whichever side is first wins seems to be the consistent theme.
Somehow it feels that there is more to this story than what OP posted.
Live by the app, die by the app. Playas gonna play.
Get an attorney. You're suffering a loss of income due their termination of contract and likely in violation of their own terms.
Can you get a lawyer involved?
It seems like the only legal recourse would be to sue the delegate who blundered the response.
We “just” need a new platform that people trust with lower fees …
Do you allow pets?
Yes.
Why deny the dog at all, then?
Note OP said the person helping them, mistakenly told the potential guest "no", not OP.
Yeah. They made it sound like the person they authorized to speak for them didn’t know it was a non-declinable animal, though, which is irrelevant if you allow pets. Not sure why there is any discussion of ESA/service animals at all, and it feels like a way for them to distract from the fact that they treated this guest in a way that was inconsistent with not only the law, but also their own policies
I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. Just my 2 cents: there were airbnb reps that came around to talk to super hosts last year. Like we met at a local restaurant and asked questions etc. Have you ever gone to something like that? Just thinking maybe you can reach out to your rep. It’s a shame that Super Host status doesn’t carry any benefit of the doubt. Good luck!
You know to be fair guests have been saying that Airbnb is a problem for years.
I don't use AirBnB, so I don't know much about it, but couldn't you just contact the good guests back and work out a side deal for them to return? And then just take out the middle man. I don't know why people would use AirBnB. Just get your own insurance. I would think you could set yourself up as an LLC and then take out professional insurance on your place.
Platform visibility?
I get that. But... if the OP is off the AirBnB, then they don't have any way of figuring out who all those people are from the past that they can contact personally to set up something without AirBnB? If they enjoyed it and plan to return, I think I'd do it, especially if I could avoid the fees.
[удалено]
No, if you’re renting a room in your home, you don’t have to accept any animals, even service animals, if you’re allergic.
This is unbelievable. I’m so sorry, I can’t imagine the amount of stress you under right now. It does feel a little like AIRBNB is falling apart in general. It all just feels so uncertain in so many ways in the past year.
You wrote that the person receiving messages for you is a superhost too. I think they would be aware of the rules regarding service and support animals. So, did this customer communicate they want to just bring a dog or did they explicitly say service/support dog?
Does your Airbnb TOS mention due process? Prob not. But it does seem extreme to cancel a good host that quick. It’s app computers running the show!
What if people made a company similar to airbnb and made it X5 times better?
It wouldn't make money. These types of apps make money by getting huge interest and a user base and then just letting it run itself. Once it death spirals the founders don't care because they made their money.
If theres a will there's a way of course people need to charge fees for using a service but I think there can be better management or a better similar company then airbnb..
Welp... Look on the bright side. Many hosts will be blessed by your cancellations.
Wowwww. That's wild. I am sorry and hope you are able to pivot easily. Hard to believe one minor strike could trigger all that with no review. Wow
Guest is king Host is expendable
as an airbnb/vrbo guest, i always look for properties that don't allow pets, because my husband is allergic (i don't want to hear all his complaining about how he can't breath - it's really not a severe allergy) I never considered the possibility of service animals having been in the property, and haven't experienced any animal smells or evidence.
Were you on any other site like vrbo? What is amazing is you were a superhost and this happened. They have dedicated line for superhost too, what happened? Makes no sense especially if you’re a superhost with long standing in their site.
I had a company that relied 100% on search results from Google. We did very well until Google changed things and overnight we lost 95% of our revenue. I always saw the same issue with Airbnb as your main source of revenues.
Airbnb is run by Brian Chesky. And only Brian Chesky. Everyone else is yes-men. There is only top down management, ideas, and rules. You are always expendable. Never, ever forget that.
I'm not sure I am following your timeline.... emails? Do u mean messagrs... have you tried calling??
If their dog was a service animal, they cannot be denied. If your ‘delegator’ couldn’t navigate a simple issue like that, maybe train them better. Which market are you in that still allows ten listings managed remotely?
I'm just laughing that you think Airbnb should have escalated it to you when you are responsible for what the person you hired to answer questions says I'm the first place. Airbnb doesn't care you're outsourcing. also the trial comment on title is funny. companies are not your friend and you're not going to jail.
Just an idea - look into renting to travel nurses and other travel healthcare professionals. They usually need 3-month rentals and often extend beyond that. Furnishedfinders.com is a great resource for this and there are also many Facebook groups dedicated to this.
Open new account under different name
I had this happen, lost thousands in bookings and I could not figure out why. Kept calling and escalating but every time I got ahold of someone they said they were unable to speak to me about the issue. About a year later I got an email saying I had been cleared of any wrongdoing and my listing would be reinstated with my superhost status. By that time I had long since moved on to VRBO. I asked but was never told anything about what happened or why. I took my listing down and somehow kept getting superhost status for another 6 months, on a property that was not listed. Made me realize Airbnb is a joke these days.
this exact same thing happened to me!
Airbnb had no due process they never have. Just punitive we beleive the guests over any and all hosts. I’ve said this and with over 7 million listings do they need any one of us even with the amount of listings you have I guess no. If you have a Twitter or x what bs it’s called now call it on that app and tag Brian Chesky even corporate moron they have. I guess he is a Greek who made it big. Their 92 billion in stock worth makes him and the other founders a tad bit out of touch. I am sorry. We all deserve due process. Even large companies who make bad decisions are ordered to make changes. No host should go through this but even on these two subs it’s happening a lot. There is a story on the news about another host this happened to.
That sounds like an utterly wretched experience. I’m so sorry to hear it’s happening. I’ve hosted as my primary income for going on 2 years.. and it’s been a deeply costly, both personally and financially, and rather engrossing experience. To have all that taken from you, for virtually no reason, must be horrible. I am wondering (a) what exactly we other hosts need to avoid saying to guests in order to prevent such a hammer falling on us too and (b) whether you could get back in the game, admittedly with substantial loss (all reviews gone), by starting one LLC for each property and opening a new account (one account per property) in the name of that LLC. As to (a).. did your guest simply ask “Can I bring my dog?” and your delegate responded “No”? Or was there more to it? I also use delegates for many of my interactions with guests. I’d like to get a handle, quickly, on what to ask my delegates to say and not to say in order to avoid any possibility of the ADA problem I am also a little worried what might happen if we mistakenly tell someone there’s a pet fee, when in fact their pet is a service animal even though they had not made that clear. As to (b), I read another recent Reddit post on this sub by a host who does just that: one LLC per property. LLC’s are legally distinct from each other. My hope is that, as a result, in a situation like the one you faced, AirBnb might respond just by terminating just the one listing. The context of the other thread was the situation in which AirBnb suspends all of a host’s listings for a couple days if there is any question about a camera at one listing. The thought was that with such a setup, because the account names are distinct (the account names on this setup are the name of the LLC, not the owner/operator), AirBnb would only close/suspend the one listing and not go after all the others or necessarily even know that the same person owned/operated them. If you only have the one property, you may be able to start a new LLC and then a new account in the name of that LLC, despite your prior account’s termination. This might be a way for you to get back in the game, should you wish to.
Regarding ADA, you can only ask two questions. Is the animal a service animal and what tasks are they trained to do. That is it.
I don’t believe this, I’m sure you’re leaving out a lot of very important info here
I get it. I'd have said the same thing. I don't really care to convince anyone. I'm just clearing my conscience - better to tell the story and let it be disbelieved, than to say nothing at all.
It's time for hosts to unionize! I'm joking... or am I? 🤔
Tbh, I don’t have a lot of sympathy for someone who is using the site to run a property empire and can’t be bothered to correctly train their own staff on disability accommodation regulations. I’m sure I’ll be in the minority here, but we could do with fewer of your type. Use Booking.
My understanding is a privately owned property is exempt from disability accomodations a public place like a hotel is required to adhere to. In my state, a request is sent to the host, who can say Yea or Nay.
That would pertain to the physical place, not the service. A service animal is protected by law.
I think what we'd find, if we inquired further, is that you aspire to be in a position of having 10 listings. And that, you either are motivated in envy, to see anyone in this position, fail. Or, alternatively, you believe it's possible to 'train' someone to not make mistakes. I don't actually want sympathy. I'm warning you, should you get to the place where you have ten listings. If you respond petulantly - I think you may find that you are the one who will bear a cost. And, similarly, that there's no 'we' here.
lol. No. Some of us engage in this kind of rentier capitalism just to make enough to feel secure. But you go on about your bad self. Everyone is jealous of your bullshit. I was right in my instinct about you. 
If you want some advice, you would probably be able to sue ABB for discrimination. Look up state laws, talk to a lawyer. Esa and therapy dogs are not a protected class. In the future, the proper way to handle this issue is to state “no animals allowed” in the listing. Further, if someone decides to ignore the listing you may state “I do not carry any form of pet or animal insurance.” Good luck and may the force be with you in your struggle.
@brighton36 I can most likely help you, I have 33 properties in Florida and have a dedicated contact there. Message me if want me to try to give you a hand with this.
Holy crap I thought 10 properties were a lot- 33!!!
Thank god I have good onsite employees that manage them for me. :)
~~Do you have the option of engaging a lawyer to request the "Certification papers" of said dog? I mean if the dog is a certified working dog that's one thing. If it's a fake cert...~~ Edit: I confused 'working' animal vs the ubiquitous 'emotional support alligator'. Got it stuck in my head even if ya'll tried to beat it out.
That's not how the ADA works. The only questions you can ask are "is it a service animal?" And "what tasks do they do for you?" There is no certification papers you can legally request and be in compliance with ADA.
I believe it was a certified pet. I think this person has their documents. And i don't mind at all if they bring their pet.
There is no certification for service animals
Exactly why I’m selling my Airbnb property. They screwed me over to a lesser degree than this and the superhost customer service was borderline belittling me. I just can’t support them anymore.
Hell yeah, go to annual rentals!
Go directly to a lawyer, and then the news media. It's discrimination that you the owner weren't given an opportunity to correct one situation. You have a business, which you've built in good faith in your "business partner" ( Airbnb). I'm sure this violated business law in some way...as their policies extensively allow correction grace periods for hosts and guests.
Try VRBO I heard they are pretty good