What Are Your Rights While Traveling or Enjoying Your Vacation?

You can be injured in a number of different ways while traveling or enjoying your vacation. If you’re injured in the Phoenix area because another party was negligent, arrange at once to discuss your options and rights with a Phoenix premises liability attorney.

Hotels, airlines, and cruise ships all have a duty to provide passengers and customers with reasonably safe rooms and travel. Tours and charter boats have the same obligation, and so do short-term rentals such as VRBO and Airbnb.

What are your rights if you are injured at a short-term rental such as VRBO or Airbnb? Can the owner of the property be held liable for your injuries? And when should you contact a Phoenix premises liability lawyer?

Are Owners Always Liable for Airbnb or VRBO Injuries?

When someone is injured at a VRBO or Airbnb in Arizona, if the owner of the property was negligent, that owner could be held liable for the injury victim’s medical bills, lost wages, and more. Under Arizona law, property owners must ensure their premises are safe for guests.

For instance, if a guest trips, falls, and is injured on a dilapidated staircase, the owner will probably be held liable for not repairing an obvious hazard. VRBO and Airbnb owners must ensure that locks, fire alarms, lights, and appliances are safe to use and in proper working order.

However, if you are responsible for your own injury at a VRBO or Airbnb location, you’ll have no premises liability claim. If you walk into a pool or a barbecue pit at a short-term rental because you were looking at your smartphone, the property owner will not be held liable.

What Protections Do VRBO and Airbnb Guests Have?

Airbnbs are properties rented through the Airbnb app for a specific period of time. In most cases, Airbnb provides up to $1 million in liability coverage when a guest sustains an injury at an Airbnb property and the injury was not the guest’s fault.

However, there are several specific exclusions in the Airbnb liability coverage, including but not limited to:

  1. acts of terrorism or war
  2. bedbugs, asbestos, and infection or disease risks
  3. damages and injuries resulting from severe weather
  4. damages and injuries caused by guests or their visitors

VRBO’s insurance coverage is similar. VRBO requires its hosts to maintain $1 million dollars of liability coverage in case a guest or a visitor is injured as the result of a host’s negligence.

When Are VRBO or Airbnb Owners Liable for Injuries?

VRBO or Airbnb property owners may be deemed liable for a guest’s injury or injuries if an owner rents a property with a known or foreseeable hazardous condition. The failure to repair such conditions before renting a property is legally considered negligence.

Hazardous conditions at VRBO or Airbnb properties may include but are not limited to:

  1. inadequate security
  2. uneven or curled-up carpeting or floor mats
  3. loose, broken, or defective stairs or railings
  4. dilapidated flooring or balconies
  5. a potential roof or structure collapse

Neglected floors and staircases are a leading cause of slip-and-fall injuries at VRBO and Airbnb rentals. Rain and sleet, worn floor mats and carpets, cluttered walkways, and cracked or broken stairs, tiles, and sidewalks are all hazards that need to be fixed before a property is rented.

If You Are Injured at a Short-Term Rental, Take These Steps

Seek medical help immediately after any injury. That is the paramount priority. You should also take photos or video of the location where you were injured, and you should get the names of any witnesses, including everyone who was staying at the Airbnb or VRBO.

Taking these steps will put you in the best possible position to recover compensation with a premises liability claim. As soon as you have been treated for your injury or injuries, contact a Phoenix premises liability attorney and schedule a free, in-depth evaluation of your injury claim.

If you and your attorney move forward with an injury claim, you’ll pay no lawyer’s fee upfront and no lawyer’s fee until your compensation has been recovered.

Although Arizona provides a two-year deadline for filing a premises liability claim, do not wait two years to speak with an attorney. Contact a lawyer the same day right after you receive your initial medical treatment. Your attorney will need to examine any evidence while it’s fresh and question any witnesses before their memories fade.

How Will Your Case Be Handled?

Your Phoenix premises liability lawyer will examine the evidence – photos, video, eyewitness statements, medical records, and in some cases, police reports – to identify the party or parties with liability for your injury.

Most Airbnb and VRBO claims are settled out-of-court, so most victims in these cases do not have to make court appearances. But if liability for your injury is disputed, or if no acceptable settlement offer is forthcoming in private negotiations, your lawyer will litigate your case.

If a trial is required, your premises liability attorney will tell a jury how (and how severely) you were injured and why the property owner’s negligence was the cause of your injury. For your claim to prevail at trial, your attorney will need to prove the following:

  1. The VRBO or Airbnb property owner failed to keep the premises reasonably safe.
  2. You were not adequately warned about a potential hazard on the premises.
  3. You were injured because the VRBO or Airbnb property owner was negligent. And
  4. Your damages were caused by the hazardous condition that was there because of the negligence of the owner.

Moore Injury Law is the Legal Team You Can Trust

Former Arizona Assistant Attorney General Lewis B. Moore III leads the team at Moore Injury Law. We fight for the injured victims of negligence in the Phoenix area and across the State of Arizona. We have established a reputation for superlative client service and legal excellence.

If you are injured at a VRBO or an Airbnb rental, the legal team at Moore Injury Law will evaluate your case without cost or obligation. If you proceed with your claim, we will fight for the compensation you are entitled to, and you will owe no out of pocket attorney fees.

Moore Injury Law knows how to put the law to work for you. Learn more about your rights as an injured victim of negligence – or start the legal process now – and call Moore Injury Law in Phoenix at 602-780-1616.