Airbnb bans making guests do dishes and take out the trash

Checking out of your next Airbnb might be less of a hassle now that the company is banning hosts from including time-consuming chores in their house rules. Airbnb’s updated house rules policy, which starts with reservations booked on or after November 20th, says hosts can’t ask guests to “complete tasks that require significant effort or time, or would typically be performed by a cleaner.” According to Airbnb, that includes:

• Dishes: Guests shouldn’t be asked to wash and put away dishes, but you can ask them to put used dishes in the sink.
• Laundry: Guests shouldn’t be asked to remove sheets from the bed or start a load of laundry, but you can ask them to gather used towels.
• Trash: Guests shouldn’t be asked to take garbage off-site, but you can ask them to separate their trash and recycling into designated indoor bins.
• Utilities: Guests shouldn’t be asked to avoid using a listed amenity like air conditioning, but you can ask them to turn it off when they leave. Airbnb is displaying hosts’ requests more prominently now in a new “rules and requests” section on listings. You might see an “includes cleaning requests” warning if a host leaves chore requests in their listing after the new policy goes into effect. Hosts aren’t allowed to sneak in extra rules in messages to guests or on signs around their property, either. Some hosts pushed back on the house rules restrictions on Airbnb’s forums, saying they pose health risks and arguing that guests can simply choose not to stay at listings with overly-strict rules. Airbnb says there can be exceptions to the limits on checkout chores, like asking guests to “dispose of trash in an animal-proof container in bear country.”