Premises Liability And Vacation Rentals

It is a popular trope in movies and television that a teenager hosts an epic party when the teen’s parents are out of town, and when the parents find out, they react with outrage and panic.  What are they so scared of?  Teens can engage in all kinds of risky behavior even when their parents are in town, and if the teens are determined enough to do so, then they can effectively find ways to keep their parents from finding out.  The reason that the parents are so much more upset about the party in their house is that most injuries that happen on private property are the legal responsibility of the property owner.  In other words, if you host a party in your parents’ house, and things get out of hand (think Project X), then all the injuries are your responsibility.  Supermarket owners only have to worry about slip and fall accidents, but the owners of houses where parties get out of control have to worry about people falling off of balconies while dancing drunk, drug overdoses, knife fights, and just about any other kind of disaster that can happen at a party.  Airbnb has recently changed its policies to stop these kinds of incidents in its vacation rental properties, but as long as there are parties, some partygoers will get injured.  If you suffered an accidental injury while you were a guest at a party, contact a Columbia premises liability lawyer.

Airbnb Says the Party Is Over, but Does This Decision Make Vacation Rentals Safer?

Premises liability laws hold that business owners are liable for injuries to business invitees resulting from preventable accidents that occur on their premises.  Therefore, most premises liability lawsuits involve customers who slip on wet floors or trip over loose floorboards at retail stores and restaurants.  Safety regulations require employees to inspect the premises frequently during business hours and remedy unsafe conditions or prevent customers from accessing unsafe areas.  Premises liability laws also apply to social hosts, meaning that if you get injured because of unsafe conditions at a house that you are visiting as a guest, you could have grounds for a premises liability lawsuit against the owners.  The legal requirements for homeowners to prevent injury to guests are less strict than the requirements for businesses to prevent injuries to customers.

For this reason, Airbnb “party houses” were a legal nightmare.  At first, Airbnb just banned open invitation house parties, but more recently, it has also banned invitation-only events.  This will likely reduce the number of injuries that take place at vacation rentals, but people who get injured because of unsafe conditions in vacation rental properties will still have the right to sue for premises liability.

Let Us Help You Today

The premises liability lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you if you got injured in a preventable accident at a vacation rental property.  Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.

Source;

engadget.com/aint-no-party-like-an-airbnb-party-131354370.html