AUSTIN (KXAN) — The vacation and home rental company, Airbnb, said they won’t be allowing large events or parties inside rental properties. This comes as some people look for relief from stay at home orders and Gov. Greg Abbott has moved to re-open Texas.
During this time of the year when graduation celebrations are common place, the vacation and home rental company said hosts should not allow any parties as social distancing guidelines are in effect.
Round Rock Airbnb Owner, Lisa Boyd, said her Airbnb has sat empty for over a month, until just recently.
“A lot of people stay at our house for weddings, but with weddings canceled, we had a lot of cancelations too,” said Lisa Boyd, Round Rock Airbnb Owner. “Within the past week and a half, my Airbnb is going off constantly.”
Boyd says the people who book her Airbnb generally come from out of state, with her most recent visitor coming from California. Boyd says she doesn’t let Austin locals stay at her home.
“I was told they’re generally looking to party. I had one bad experience, they were from Austin and they trashed our house, it was bad,” said Boyd.
On Boyd’s Airbnb rules, she opts out of the option that allows for vacationers to hold events of parties inside her home.
Airbnb previously announced that it will not allow hosts to authorize parties in areas of the country where public health mandates place a ban on social gatherings. In order to enforce that,company officials have changed a couple of items on its online platform.
“We’ve temporarily disabled the event friendly filter on our website, which is usually used for guests who want to host an event like a wedding or anniversary party.,” said Samuel Randall of Airbnb Communications. “We’ve also taken parties and events allowed — out of the house rules.”
Gov. Abbott recently initiated revised executive orders that reopened parts of the state. However, Airbnb wants to remind hosts that while some parts of Texas have opened up, Abbott stated that social distancing remains in effect.
“We want to be very clear not only will we ban guests who attempt to throw an unauthorized party in an Austin Airbnb listing, we will be cooperating with Austin Police in any investigations relating to parties and violations of public health mandates, consistent with our Terms of Service,” Airbnb wrote in a statement.
