A short-term rental looks like a home and is run like a business. Guests arrive by code, often at night, and use stairs, decks, pools, hot tubs, heaters and appliances they have never seen before. Many of these properties were never set up for a rotating stream of guests, and the safety features a hotel would have, such as lit stairways, code-compliant railings, pool fencing, and working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, are sometimes missing entirely.
Manoukian Law Firm represents people injured at Airbnb, VRBO and other short-term rental properties throughout California. Every case is prepared as though it will be tried.
What to do after an injury at a short-term rental
- Get medical care and tell the provider where the injury happened and how.
- Photograph everything before you leave: the stairs, the railing, the deck, the pool gate, the lighting, the heater, the missing detector, and your injuries. Take wide shots that show the property.
- Save the entire listing. Screenshot the photos, the description, the house rules, the amenity list and the reviews, including any review that mentions the same hazard. Listings get edited after an incident.
- Report the injury through the platform’s message system rather than by phone, so there is a written record with a timestamp.
- Keep your reservation confirmation, receipt, check-in instructions and all messages with the host.
- Get names and contact information for anyone who was with you or who saw what happened.
- Do not accept a refund tied to a release, and do not sign anything before you have advice.
How these cases work in California
A short-term rental injury claim is a premises liability claim. The duty of a property owner comes from Rowland v. Christian, and the case turns on the same questions as any other: was the condition dangerous, did the responsible party know about it or should reasonable inspection have found it, and was there a reasonable opportunity to repair it or warn about it before someone was hurt.
Who is responsible is the part that takes work. A single rental can involve the property owner, a host who is not the owner, a property management company that handles turnover and maintenance, a homeowners association that controls the pool or the common stairs, a cleaning service, and contractors who built or altered a deck, a railing or a spa. Some of these parties carry their own insurance, and the wrong defendant means a claim that goes nowhere.
The booking platform’s role is often misunderstood. Airbnb operates a host liability program, and VRBO offers similar coverage through its own arrangements, but these programs are insurance-style coverage available to hosts. They are not a substitute for a claim against the party who was actually responsible for the condition, and the terms, exclusions and process are set by the program, not by the guest. Treat the program as one possible source of coverage to be identified, not as the claim itself.
The injuries we see most often come from stairs and decks without proper railings, loose or rotted deck boards, poor exterior lighting, unfenced or unmarked pools and spas, hot tub temperature and chemical problems, glass doors, space heaters, missing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, gas appliances, dog attacks by an animal kept at the property, and criminal incidents at properties with no working locks or lighting. Where a dog is involved, strict liability under Civil Code section 3342 applies to the owner when the person was lawfully present, as explained on our dog bite page.
California applies pure comparative negligence under Li v. Yellow Cab. An argument that a guest was careless reduces recovery by that share of fault rather than barring it.
Airbnb and Vrbo host liability coverage: what it is and what it is not
Both major platforms give hosts a form of liability coverage at no charge, and both are worth understanding, because clients often assume the platform itself will pay for an injury. It does not work that way.
Airbnb’s program is called host liability insurance, part of AirCover for Hosts. According to Airbnb’s own program summary, it provides up to USD 1 million of coverage per stay for a host’s legal liability when a guest or another person suffers bodily injury or property damage during a stay, and it includes the cost of defending a claim or lawsuit. The policies are issued by third-party insurers, not by Airbnb, and the summary lists exclusions, including intentional injuries and assault. Airbnb notes that for hosts with six or more active listings, the program may apply only as excess coverage after the host’s other insurance.
Vrbo’s program is called $1M Liability Insurance, administered by Generali. Vrbo’s program summary describes coverage of up to USD 1 million per occurrence for an owner or property manager who becomes legally obligated to pay damages for bodily injury to a guest, along with a small medical payments benefit. Vrbo states that benefits are coordinated with any other applicable insurance, including the owner’s homeowners policy.
Three points follow from this. First, the claim is made against the host or owner, not against the platform. The platform program is one possible source of payment for what that person owes, and its terms, limits and exclusions are set by the policy, not by the guest. Second, the owner’s own homeowners or landlord policy is often involved, either because it responds first, because the platform program coordinates with it, or because the platform coverage does not apply to the facts. Third, none of this replaces a claim against a property manager, contractor or association that actually created the hazard. We identify every policy in play, and we treat the platform program as one piece of that picture rather than the case itself.
How Manoukian Law Firm handles short-term rental claims
We move first on preservation, because a listing is under the host’s control and can be changed within hours. We capture the listing as it appeared, request the platform’s records for the booking and any reports made through it, and send written preservation notices to the host, the owner and any management company covering maintenance records, prior guest complaints, repair and permit history, inspection records and any video.
Then we identify every party and every policy. That includes the owner’s homeowners or landlord policy, any commercial or short-term rental policy, a management company’s coverage, an association’s policy where a common area is involved, and any platform host program that may apply. We also look at whether the property was permitted for short-term rental use and whether required safety equipment was in place, because that history often explains how a condition was allowed to persist.
On the medical side we gather the records and billing and, in cases with lasting injuries, work with the treating physicians so future care is documented by the people providing it. We handle communications with the insurers and the platform so our clients can concentrate on recovery. Our office is in Chatsworth on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, and the firm represents injured people throughout California, meeting clients by phone or video when travel is difficult. Many of our clients in these cases live out of state and were here on a trip.
We handle these cases for people injured at rentals anywhere in California. Vacation rental injuries arise most often in the places people go to get away: Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley, Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead, Lake Tahoe, San Diego, Santa Barbara and the Central Coast, Joshua Tree, Mammoth Lakes, and the Los Angeles beach cities. The property may be hours from our office, and that does not change how the case is handled. Our office is in Chatsworth, and for clients elsewhere in the state we meet by phone or video, gather the evidence where the injury happened, and file in the county where the claim belongs.
What can be recovered
California allows recovery for the harm the injury actually caused. Economic losses include emergency care, surgery, imaging, therapy, medication, equipment, home care and the future medical treatment a physician expects will be required, along with lost income and reduced earning capacity where the injury changes what someone can do for a living. Travel costs created by the injury, including a disrupted trip and the cost of getting home, can be part of the picture. Medical damages are measured by the amounts actually paid or owed under Howell v. Hamilton Meats.
Non-economic losses cover pain, scarring, sleep loss and the activities a person can no longer do. Head injuries deserve particular attention because the symptoms often appear days later, which is covered on our brain injury page. Where a rental incident causes a death, wrongful death claims under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 may be brought by a spouse, domestic partner, children and certain dependents, with a separate survival action under section 377.30.
Deadlines
The general California deadline for personal injury claims is two years from the date of injury under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. If a public entity owns or controls the property or the area where the injury happened, a written claim is generally due within six months under Government Code section 911.2. Platform programs and insurers also run their own reporting timelines, which are usually much shorter than the legal deadline, so the practical clock starts immediately.
Case results
Our client tripped and fell at a restaurant. Witness depositions and discovery guided the case to a $250,000 settlement.
Our client was injured by a dangerous condition at a nightclub. The case settled in litigation for a six-figure sum after discovery.
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Frequently asked questions
Does Airbnb’s host protection program pay my claim?
It is coverage available to hosts, with its own terms, exclusions and process. It can be a source of recovery, but it does not replace a claim against the owner, host or management company that was responsible for the condition. The program is one thing to identify, not the whole case.
The terms of service say I agreed to arbitrate. Does that block my claim?
Platform terms address disputes with the platform. A claim against the property owner or host for an unsafe condition is a separate claim, and the analysis depends on what the specific documents say. Do not assume a checkbox at booking ended your rights.
The host offered a refund if I would drop the issue. Should I take it?
Have it reviewed first. A refund tied to a release can close a claim before anyone knows how serious the injury is, and it is often offered before the medical picture is clear.
I live in another state and was visiting California. Where does the claim go?
If the injury happened at a California property, the claim generally belongs in California. We work with out-of-state clients by phone and video and handle the case here. This kind of case also comes up alongside slip and fall and hotel injury claims, which follow similar rules.
If you were hurt at a short-term rental, the listing and the property can change within a day. Call Manoukian Law Firm at (818) 818-5031 or reach us through the contact page. The consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we win.
Serving clients across California
The office is on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Chatsworth, and the firm represents injured people throughout California. If you cannot travel, we meet by phone, by video or in the hospital.
Most of the firm’s clients live and drive in the San Fernando Valley. See how cases are handled in Chatsworth, Northridge, Reseda, Canoga Park, San Fernando and Simi Valley, or browse every community the firm serves.
