Popular home rental service Airbnb officially bans ‘party houses’ after five innocent people die.
What We Know:
- On Thursday, October 31, the Contra Costa County Police Department received complaints of gunshots that began around 10:50 p.m. at an Airbnb rental in Orinda, California. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the soon-to-be dangerous Halloween party was promoted as a mansion party via social media. Four people were killed that night, with the fifth person succumbing to their injuries on Friday morning.
- On Saturday, November 2, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky made the announcement in a series of tweets, stating that the company will no longer rent out ‘party houses’. He also stated that the business will take the necessary precautions to protect future ‘party house’ hosts and guests.
- “What happened on Thursday night in Orinda, CA was horrible,” Chesky tweeted. “I feel for the families and neighbors impacted by this tragedy — we are working to support them.” Chesky then went on to say that Airbnb will begin to ban ‘party houses’ and the company will start to “redouble” on attempts to safeguard unauthorized parties.
- The attempts will include the expansion of manual screenings of high-risk reservations that will be flagged by Airbnb’s risk detection technology, as well as, creating a rapid response ‘party house’ team. Chesky also tweeted that he has appointed Margaret Richardson, an Airbnb executive team member, as the person to expedite the review process of these new rules.
Are any of you an avid Airbnb renters? If so, sound off in the comments and let us know how these new rules will affect you in the renting process.
