Key Takeaways
- Airbnb will stop hosts from fining guests who ignore chore requests such as washing dishes or stripping beds for reservations booked on or after November 20.
- The platform will flag requests that violate its policy and let hosts appeal, while allowing exceptions for circumstances such as drought-related water restrictions.
- Hosts can use guest contracts only when laws, homeowners association rules, or similarly limited circumstances require them.
Airbnb is changing its rules on what a host can ask a guest to do before handing over the keys, leaving a number of hosts ranting about it online.
According to BBC News, the new rules apply to every reservation booked on or after November 20. Bookings made before that date are not covered.
Hosts will keep the ability to set their own house rules and requests under the policy, but they lose the ability to enforce them, as fines imposed on guests are off the table.
Instead, requests that run afoul of the policy get flagged by the platform, and a host who disagrees with a flag can appeal it.
On social media, Airbnb hosts shared a range of reactions, from promises of raising prices to hire additional cleaning services to swearing off the property rental platform altogether. Meanwhile, many guests cheered the pullback on rules like dish cleaning and stripping beds, which will now fall under regulations.
The new policy also tightens when hosts can put a guest under contract. Those are permitted only in limited situations, including when a law or a homeowners association rule requires one.
Airbnb says it may grant exceptions in some circumstances, such as letting a host ask guests to keep showers short while water restrictions are in force during a local drought.
