Airbnb prohibits parties, events at properties, discourages large gatherings

Advertising a listing as a party, open-invite gatherings, advertising a party at a property, and disruptive events are not allowed under Airbnb's policies outlined on its website.

Bath police officers responded at around midnight on Nov. 2 to reports of gunfire at a residence in the 900 block of Top Of The Hill Drive, which was listed through Airbnb. According to the township police, a large group of people, mainly juveniles, had gathered for a birthday party when one or more suspects fired several shots inside the home before fleeing. The event was for a birthday party that was promoted on social media. The majority of those at the party were younger than 18.

Ohio BCI officers along with Bath Police officers work the scene of a shooting at 933 Top-O-Hill Drive, Nov. 2, 2025, in Bath TWP, Ohio.

A spokesman from Airbnb, a company that advertises short-term rentals on properties, stated that it takes measures to enforce its ban "on rare disruptive and unauthorized parties." This includes:

• Reservation screening to block certain bookings that are potentially higher risk for unauthorized parties.
• Additional heightened measures at certain times of year that can attract higher risk for parties, such as Halloween.
• Requirements that all Airbnb users must be at least 18 years old, and guests younger than18 must be accompanied by a registered adult.

"Airbnb may take steps up to and including suspending or removing a guest, host, or listing from the Airbnb platform if they fail to comply with our policies," Airbnb's website states. "Where a listing is advertised as party or event friendly, we may suspend the listing until the violating content is removed. We may also ask the host to update their listing to include an explicit rule stating that parties and events are not allowed. Where a host has set an unreasonable occupancy for a listing, we may require the host to update the listing’s occupancy to mitigate the risk of disruptive gatherings."

If a listing seems to be primarily for hosting parties or events, or if a listing has a history of creating a nuisance in a neighborhood, Airbnb could permanently remove the listing.

According to the spokesman, Airbnb has 24-hour safety line, which enables hosts and guests to quickly reach our specialized Safety team for help during an active stay, such as to report an unauthorized party. In addition, the company has a Neighborhood Support Line, which enables neighbors to speak directly to representatives with Airbnb with urgent concerns about a nearby property that they believe is listed on Airbnb, like a potential party in progress.

"We have seen an over 50 percent decrease in the rate of parties reported to us globally since 2020, the year we first introduced our global party ban policy and measures to help enforce it (as of 2024 and compared with 2020)," the spokesman stated. "Globally in 2024, fewer than approximately 0.035% of reservations on Airbnb resulted in an allegation of a party."