Who is Liable When You’re Injured in an Airbnb?

More and more, Airbnbs are becoming popular whether for vacationers or for those who need shorter term rentals. But Airbnbs are still properties, and homes, and thus, the potential for being injured inside of one is still there.

Joint Responsibility

Airbnbs create special problems because of the joint responsibility between the multiple entities involved in Airbnbs, a problem not there when you simply are injured inside of someone’s home or apartment.

With an Airbnb, if you are a guest and are injured, there are potentially three entities that could be liable to compensate you for injuries: The renter, the owner of the property, and the Airbnb company itself. Of course, if you’re the one renting the property and you’re injured, then your avenues to recovery are only through the property’s owner and Airbnb.

So Who is Liable?

Any time there are multiple parties that own or control property, such as there is with an Airbnb, the issue becomes who is responsible; the person renting the Airbnb may say it is the property owner, and the Airbnb property owner may say it’s the renter. As the victim, you may have no idea.

Sometimes this is obvious; temporary conditions which are dangerous, such as a spill or object on the floor, will usually be the responsibility of the tenant renting the property. Longer term problems or problems with major parts of the property or fixtures, will often be the obligation of the owner of the property.

But it’s not uncommon to have both an owner and the renter claim that they had no idea that a dangerous condition existed, or how a dangerous condition got there in the first place.

There can be joint liability as well; a major structural problem may be the obligation of the Airbnb owner, but if the renter knows about it, he or she may have an obligation to warn of it or tell visitors to be careful.

What About Airbnb Itself?

Many have tried to hold Airbnb itself, the company, liable. That has met with mixed results; many courts won’t hold the company liable, finding that they don’t inspect, own, maintain or control properties–they are just an online site where people put up, and rent out, properties.

There are some exceptions, usually in situations where Airbnb knew or should have known that there was a problem with property. This is rare, but it does happen, and discovery will often need to be done to see if Airbnb was on notice that there was some risk or danger surrounding a specific property.

A typical example is, a few years back, when patrons found out that Airbnb owners were spying on them, and reported it to Airbnb, allegations in a lawsuit against Airbnb were that they did nothing to investigate the reports, or warn other renters.

Airbnb does require renters carry minimum amounts of insurance, ensuring that injury victims have some avenue for compensation, if they are injured.

Injured at an Airbnb? Schedule a consultation with our Tampa personal injury lawyers at Barbas, Nunez, Sanders, Butler & Hovsepian today for help after your injury or accident.

Source:

cnn.com/2024/07/09/business/airbnb-hidden-camera-invs