Hosting home could pose problems

It’s a big business that’s popular in the summer months allowing you to rent out your house to strangers to make extra cash.

With websites like Airbnb and Homeaway, listing your house can be easy. The concept started in big cities and has now made its way to Mid-Missouri with dozens of homes for rent.

You can play host for a night or for weeks at a time. You can rent out your whole home or just a room. People are making thousands of dollars, but through an ABC 17 News investigation we found there are some risks.

Tony Lotven and his wife have rented out their Boone County home for the past nine months. With a few pictures and some descriptions listed they were in the system ready to make money.

It was not something the Lotvens rushed into. They thought about it for six months. The Lotvens had just remodeled the downstairs and were looking for some extra income. When they play host they are home while their paying guests stay over in a separate part of the house.

The couple, get on average, about two or three bookings a month and at $150 a night they say the extra income has been nice.

While Tony Lotven describes his experience as excellent, not all hosts can say that. A Canadian couple rented out their house and came back to find the place trashed. Police describe what happened while the home was rented as a “drug-induced orgy.” As many as a hundred people were in the house at one point, and left the home unlivable until a Hazmat team cleaned it up.

Airbnb does have a $1 million host guarantee to cover some issues. It does not protect cash and securities, pets, personal liability, or shared or common areas. They also state that the host guarantee should not be considered as a replacement or stand-in for homeowners or renters insurance.

Even with insurance there may still be gaps. Shelter Insurance recommends you talk to your agent before renting out your home.

Columbia City officials said they will soon be looking into this new type of business. One concern they have is for the safety of people renting out a home. City staff will be looking into sites like Airbnb in the next couple of months coming up with possible recommendations for council to see if there should be some regulation on this new type of business.