Airbnb Adopts Rules in Effort to Fight Discrimination by Its Hosts
<i>&gt;Airbnb said it would also accelerate the use of instant bookings, which lets renters book places immediately without host approval.</i><p>Maybe I&#x27;m naive but it seems like that policy would be perceived by hosts as extremely hostile.  Homeowners have both a financial and emotional vested interest in their homes so letting strangers book it without a cursory check isn&#x27;t going to work.  Having no checks would work for real estate holders who aren&#x27;t emotionally attached to their homes but not homeowners who live in the same house they rent.<p>Even if it&#x27;s irrational and discriminatory, homeowners want to maintain some semblance of control over who stays at their home.  It&#x27;s the homeowner who has to pay for damages&#x2F;misbehavior -- whether directly or by home insurance deductibles and higher premiums.  (As I understand it, AirBnb&#x27;s coverage guarantee only kicks in 
<i>after</i> the homeowner exhausts his personal insurance.)<p>Does anyone know the bulk of AirBnb&#x27;s business revenue?  Is it homeowners renting out a spare bedroom?  Or is it people renting out non-owner occupied beach houses and lofts?<p>EDIT ADD:  Every time an AirBnb thread about racism comes up, many commenters are confused or ignorant about <i>what the law actually says</i>.  To copypaste a previous comment:<p>Those anti-discrimination laws don&#x27;t apply to hosts&#x27; private homes or bedrooms.[1] Paraphrase of law: <i>&quot;All persons shall be entitled ..., and accommodations of any place of public accommodation,..., without discrimination ... other than ... a building which contains not more than five rooms for rent ... which is actually occupied by the proprietor ... as his residence&quot;</i><p>In other words, if a homeowner has a spare bedroom across the hall from her 13-year-old son&#x27;s room, and doesn&#x27;t want to rent to transgender, black, or 65-year-old guests, it is <i>legal</i> for her to discriminate on those attributes.<p>On the other hand, if the AirBnb host is renting out a non-owner-occupied beach house, the discrimination laws would apply.<p>[1]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.law.cornell.edu&#x2F;uscode&#x2F;text&#x2F;42&#x2F;2000a" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.law.cornell.edu&#x2F;uscode&#x2F;text&#x2F;42&#x2F;2000a</a>: