Airbnb has announced that it will be pursuing legal action against a Cincinnati guest who booked a property and held an unauthorized party on Sunday, Aug. 16 that ended in gun violence.
"Airbnb is working to provide support to the host after this tragic incident. In addition, Airbnb is committing that it will donate any money recovered through this proceeding to a local Cincinnati non-profit fighting against gun violence," the company said in a release.
The rental company says it notified the guest on Friday of their intent, "alleging negligence, violation of Airbnb’s Community Standards and that the guest booked the listing under false pretenses." The guest has been banned from the platform as well.
This is only the second time Airbnb will be pursuing legal claims against a party-thrower. This first happened earlier this month when they initiated legal proceedings against a guest in Sacramento for throwing an unauthorized party that also ended in gun violence.
During the weekend that the Aug. 16 party occurred in Cincinnati, at least 20 people were shot, five fatally, in several separate incidents across the city.
On Saturday night into early Sunday morning, 17 people were shot in Over-the-Rhine, the West End and Avondale. On Sunday night and early Monday morning, an additional three people were shot in East Price Hill, Pendleton and Walnut Hills. Those incidents were on top of a fatal shooting in East Price Hill Friday evening.
The shooting Sunday night in Pendleton occurred at a party at an Airbnb on Broadway Street, where a man was found shot in the back at about 10:30 p.m.
Airbnb's release says the party they are seeking action against resulted in "serious injuries to a person who works with the Airbnb host," but it's unclear if the person who was found shot in the back is that same person.
Last week, Airbnb banned all parties at all of its properties across the globe, saying, "We acknowledge that there will always be those who attempt to break the rules. This is why we’ve implemented steep consequences for hosts or guests who try to skirt them — including bans from our community and even legal action.”
They also placed a max capacity of 16 people at properties.
This is in addition to its policy that prohibits some guests under the age of 25 from booking rentals in their own cities in order to prevent house parties. They also explicitly ban general "party houses" and have a special hotline neighbors (or anyone) can call at +1 (855) 635-7754 to report a party.
