By Sam Kemmis | NerdWallet Aviation safety is constantly under public scrutiny. When the door flew off a Boeing 737 in January, it made headlines for months. The U.
S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill giving the Federal Aviation Administration $105 billion to hire more air traffic controllers, improve runway safety and even train flight attendants in self-defense. Yet the safety of short-term rentals, available on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo , receives far less attention.
When a fire at an illegal Airbnb rental in Montreal killed seven people last year, it was primarily local news. Social media is filled with tips for improving the safety of a rental — such as checking for hidden cameras — yet it’s difficult to know whether these address real or imagined threats. That’s partly because no regulatory agency oversees the safety of short-term rentals.
“Imagine if Delta Air Lines said you have to bring your own oxygen tank — you’d say, ‘No way, I’m not getting on there,’” says Justin Ford, the director of short-term rental safety and certification programs at Breezeway, a property operations platform for short-term rental property managers. “Yet people are saying you should bring your own carbon monoxide alarm to a rental. We, as an industry, should be embarrassed by that.
” Airbnb insists the problem is minor. “With over 1.5 billion guest arrivals to 220 countries and regions, safety issues on Airbnb are incredibly rare,” an Airbnb sp.
