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Ask HN: Can Airbnb hosts reject you based on your marital status?

5 points by scottmcdot 11y ago

My friend just told me she was trying to get an Airbnb in Norway. She was rejected and the host wrote "I am not able to take unmarried couples". Is this allowed?

trcollinson 11y ago
Is this allowed or is this allowed by Airbnb and will this host be subsequently removed? I would imagine the answer to the first question is, well yes of course it is allowed. They own (or have some right) to the property they are lending so they can decide on any number of arbitrary factors whether or not to lend to a particular borrower. Is it against Airbnb's rules and policies? Actually, from everything I can find, no. This is absolutely fine. You can, as a lender, make any number of "house rules" in a "house manual" as long as you state your rules upfront. Maybe this lender feels that married couples take better care of the house in question. Or maybe they have religious beliefs about unmarried couples. Or maybe they just hate people who are dating. As long as the rules are stipulated up front and not in a rude way, it seems just fine according to the rules. Now, will this help them lend their place? Hard to say. The market will drive that entirely. But as for "allowed" the answer seems to be a clear, yes.
debacle 11y ago
I believe the host is given a lot of discretion when it comes to bookings. Our recent host was very nice but required a lot of hoops before she would confirm the reservation. This was not in Norway but she was Norwegian.
auganov 11y ago
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/483/anti-discrimination-policy https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/483/anti-discrimination-... Seems like they will only intervene if the host doesn't comply with local discrimination laws.So I guess she should find if Norway has any anti-discrimination laws with regards to housing and martial status. And if it's specified in the listing itself they might intervene regardless of local law if I understand it correctly.
mknappen 11y ago
While companies like Uber and Airbnb cut through regulations that create artificial scarcity, they also cut through protective regulations.

5 points by scottmcdot 11y ago

My friend just told me she was trying to get an Airbnb in Norway. She was rejected and the host wrote "I am not able to take unmarried couples". Is this allowed?

trcollinson 11y ago

Is this allowed or is this allowed by Airbnb and will this host be subsequently removed? I would imagine the answer to the first question is, well yes of course it is allowed. They own (or have some right) to the property they are lending so they can decide on any number of arbitrary factors whether or not to lend to a particular borrower. Is it against Airbnb's rules and policies? Actually, from everything I can find, no. This is absolutely fine. You can, as a lender, make any number of "house rules" in a "house manual" as long as you state your rules upfront. Maybe this lender feels that married couples take better care of the house in question. Or maybe they have religious beliefs about unmarried couples. Or maybe they just hate people who are dating. As long as the rules are stipulated up front and not in a rude way, it seems just fine according to the rules. Now, will this help them lend their place? Hard to say. The market will drive that entirely. But as for "allowed" the answer seems to be a clear, yes.

debacle 11y ago

I believe the host is given a lot of discretion when it comes to bookings. Our recent host was very nice but required a lot of hoops before she would confirm the reservation. This was not in Norway but she was Norwegian.

auganov 11y ago

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/483/anti-discrimination-policy https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/483/anti-discrimination-... Seems like they will only intervene if the host doesn't comply with local discrimination laws.So I guess she should find if Norway has any anti-discrimination laws with regards to housing and martial status. And if it's specified in the listing itself they might intervene regardless of local law if I understand it correctly.

mknappen 11y ago

While companies like Uber and Airbnb cut through regulations that create artificial scarcity, they also cut through protective regulations.