Expedia, TripAdvisor Tighten Safety Rules for Vacation Rentals
- Vrbo platform bans hosts from leaving keys in public places
- Policy change made after story about crime at Airbnb rentals
The Vrbo website.
This article is for subscribers only.
Expedia Group Inc.’s short-term rental business Vrbo has banned hosts who use its platform from leaving house keys in public places, and TripAdvisor Inc. is reviewing its safety policies to better protect travelers.
The two companies said the moves were prompted by a recent Bloomberg Businessweek investigation into violent crimes at Airbnb Inc. listings. That story reported on the alleged rape at knife point of a 29-year-old Australian tourist in an Airbnb rental near Times Square on New Year’s Eve in 2015. The woman had picked up the keys to the apartment at a nearby bodega without having to provide identification, and somehow her attacker had obtained a duplicate set of keys and was waiting for her when she returned.