I’m not sure why anyone would want to book a Dallas event.
I’m also not sure if renting a space for an Airbnb event is even legal in the first place.
But that’s exactly what’s happening right now.
On Wednesday, Airbnb announced that it will be making it easier for hosts to rent out spaces for their events.
That’s because, Airbnb said, if an event has been cancelled or rescheduled, the property owner will have the ability to rebook the event on Airbnb, or to take it down altogether.
That means if you’re renting a house for an event, and you’ve been told you’re unable to reschedule it because the space is too small, you’ll no longer be charged for renting out that space.
Airbnb says it’s the most extensive update to its policy in a long time.
But it also comes at a time when Airbnb is facing increased pressure from regulators over its ability to manage rentals on the platform.
In December, Airbnb received a warning from the Federal Trade Commission over its “unfair” practices, including the practice of “renting” space for a rental without letting the property owners know it’s happening.
The FTC is currently investigating Airbnb’s “rental platform” in the United States, with the goal of determining whether it’s providing the platform to people with “a commercial intent” to make money.
The company says it will continue to do so, but it also wants to avoid the “unintended consequences” of these practices.
In a blog post, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky wrote that it’s “time to move beyond the current policy to one that protects both Airbnb hosts and our guests from unfair practices and will help keep hosts and guests safe.”
The new policy will take effect in July, but Airbnb is still letting hosts and owners know when they can expect to rent their spaces out to events, but not when the space will be able to be used for an actual event.
The move comes after Airbnb and several other companies faced legal and public scrutiny over how they handle rental listings.
Airbnb faced backlash last year after it made an unauthorized listing of a Dallas apartment for $500,000.
After an outcry, Airbnb made it clear it wouldn’t allow such listings.
That meant hosts and their guests were paying the price for Airbnb’s policy, as the site was accused of taking money from them to rent apartments.
Airbnb has said it’s not responsible for the actions of its hosts.
