Airbnb Is Now Your Mom And Dad: How The Company Plans To Crack Down On Parties

It didn’t take long for people to realize they could rent out an Airbnb Inc ABNB rental for a night, throw a party and charge attendees a small fee, say $5, to cover the cost of the rental. 

Now Airbnb is rolling out new technology to help prevent people from renting out properties specifically for parties. The app will try and identify users who are trying to rent properties close to their home addresses, as well as assess past Airbnb reviews and history. It focuses on users younger than 25; the platform has an age requirement of 18.

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky spoke to Yahoo Finance Wednesday to discuss the platform's new policies to help protect owners.

Risk Department: The Airbnb “party hack” causes obvious problems for Airbnb. First, is a liability issue. Airbnb does not want to be legally responsible for underage kids drinking, or the litany of adverse outcomes that are associated with young people drinking. 

In April, two minors were killed at a party thrown at an Airbnb rental in Pittsburgh. More than 200 people attended the party according to reports, and one of the shooting victims was only 14 years old. 

Take Your Shoes Off In The House: The other problem with parties at Airbnbs is that property owners will be way less likely to rent out their homes if they will be used for a party.

Airbnb has rules against parties that aren’t easily enforced. Now, with the new party screening technology, Airbnb will try and convince property owners their homes will be safe from parties. 

“The primary objective is attempting to reduce the ability of bad actors to throw unauthorized parties which negatively impact our Hosts, neighbors, and the communities we serve,” Airbnb said in its press release. 

Fight For Your Right To Party: One could argue the new Airbnb policy unfairly assumes that all young people are wild and reckless. There might be a young person that still lives at home with their parents wanting to rent out an Airbnb close to home for a “staycation.” Airbnb says those users will still be able to book private rooms where hosts are more likely to be onsite during the stay. 

Photo courtesy of Airbnb.