Airbnb announces new policies, party house ban

Airbnb has announced three forward steps in protecting hosts, guests and communities, including a new party house ban, guest standards and dedicated line of communication for  town officials to reach Airbnb in 2020.

Between August 1, 2018 and July 31, 2019, Airbnb reported .05% of trips on Airbnb had a safety-related issue reported by a host or guest and .03% of trips on Airbnb had a significant claim paid out under the host guarantee. Airbnb is dedicating $150 million to new trust and safety innovations.

Airbnb’s existing community standards have long requested guests to follow hosts’ house rules, which often address issues such as respect for neighbors, maximum occupancy, pets and more. In recent months, Airbnb solicited feedback from hosts around the world. The company’s new guest standards cover five scenarios: excessive noise, unauthorized guests, unauthorized parking, unauthorized smoking and major cleanliness concerns requiring excessive cleaning after checkout.

These new guest standards create a clear and actionable enforcement framework for these scenarios and if it is determined that a guest has violated the new standards, the first violation will result in a warning and required education on Airbnb rules. Further violations may result in account suspension or removal. Airbnb will accept information directly from hosts as well as from neighbors via the Airbnb Neighbor Tool or the forthcoming Airbnb Neighbor Hotline.

Airbnb’s new guest standards will take effect in early 2020 and will be a living set of standards that will be updated over time to cover additional scenarios that occur regularly.

As always, serious misconduct by guests in violation of other existing policies, including unauthorized parties, will be reviewed and may lead to immediate suspension or removal.

There will also be a ban on party houses and parties that are not authorized.

Many guests work with hosts to book listings for gatherings that bring people together in a manner that respects the home, the host’s house rules, and the surrounding neighborhood. This new policy does not impact parties that are authorized by hosts and convened respectfully by guests. Instead, the goal with this new policy is to address the small number of guests who act irresponsibly and those rare hosts whose homes become persistent neighborhood nuisances.

Moving forward, all “open-invite” parties and events are banned in Airbnb accommodations. This covers any event that the organizer opens up to anyone who wants to attend, such as gatherings advertised on social media. Hosts who attempt to circumvent this ban and allow guests to throw large parties will be subject to consequences. The only exception for this rule is for traditional hospitality listings that list with Airbnb –  boutique hotels and professional event venues – that may set their own rules on open-invite parties. Even for these listings, Airbnb will monitor for any complaints and follow up with venues as necessary.

Additionally, large parties and events are now banned in Airbnb listings in multi-family residences—such as apartment buildings and condos. Again, hosts who allow guests to throw open-invite parties in multi-family residences will be subject to consequences.

For “single family home” listings, Airbnb will continue to trust our hosts to set House Rules that are appropriate for their community.  Any type of unauthorized party—meaning a party thrown by guests without the knowledge or consent of the host—remains prohibited in all listings.

This policy was developed carefully and with outside input, including retired police commissioner and co-chair of President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, Charles Ramsey and former director of the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing’s Services, Ronald Davis.

Airbnb is also launching a dedicated line where mayors and city officials can connect with appropriate Airbnb representatives. Details on this new feature will be rolled out in 2020.