Nondiscrimination Policy
Effective date: 05th January 2021
Homes & Cribs is an open and incredibly diverse community, drawing together individuals of different cultures, values, and norms. We are dedicated to bringing people of different backgrounds together in an inclusive and respectful manner.
Specific Guidance for Hosts
Our host community will follow these rules when considering potential guests and hosting guests:
Race, Color, Ethnicity, National Origin, Religion, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, or Marital Status
- Homes & Cribs hosts may not:
- Decline a booking based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.
- Impose any different terms or conditions based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.
- Post any listing or make any statement that discourages or indicates a preference for or against any guest on account of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.
Gender Identity
Homes & Cribs does not assign a gender identity to our users. We consider the gender of individuals to be what they identify and/or designate on their user profiles, and we expect our Homes & Cribs members to do the same. This includes respecting the pronouns (he/him, she/her, they/them, etc.) any users within the community identify themselves with.
- Homes & Cribs hosts may not:
- Decline a booking from a guest based on gender identity unless the host shares living spaces (for example, bathroom, kitchen, or common areas) with the guest.
- Impose any different terms or conditions based on gender unless the host shares living spaces with the guest.
- Post any listing or make any statement that discourages or indicates a preference for or against any guest on account of gender, unless the host shares living spaces with the guest.
- Homes & Cribs hosts may:
- Make a unit available to guests of the host’s gender and not the other, where the host shares living spaces with the guest.
Age and Familial Status
- Homes & Cribs hosts may not:
- Impose any different terms or conditions or decline a reservation based on the guest’s age or familial status, where prohibited by law.
- Homes & Cribs hosts may:
- Provide factually accurate information about their listing’s features (or lack of them) that could make the listing unsafe or unsuitable for guests of a certain age or families with children or infants.
- Note in their listings applicable community restrictions (e.g., senior housing), regulations, or laws that prohibit guests under a particular age or families with children or infants.
Disability
- Homes & Cribs hosts may not:
- Decline a guest based on any actual or perceived disability.
- Impose any different terms or conditions based on the fact that the guest has a disability.
- Substitute their own judgment about whether a unit meets the needs of a guest with a disability for that of the prospective guest.
- Inquire about the existence or severity of a guest’s disability, or the means used to accommodate any disability. If, however, a potential guest raises his or her disability, a host may, and should, discuss with the potential guest whether the listing meets the potential guest’s needs.
- Prohibit or limit the use of mobility devices.
- Charge more in fees for guests with disabilities, including pet fees when the guest has an assistance animal (such as a service or emotional support animal) because of the disability.
- Post any listing or make any statement that discourages or indicates a preference for or against any guest on account of the fact that the guest has a disability.
- Refuse to communicate with guests through accessible means that are available, including relay operators (for people with hearing impairments) and e-mail (for people with vision impairments using screen readers).
- Refuse to provide reasonable accommodations, including flexibility when guests with disabilities request modest changes in your house rules, such as bringing an assistance animal that is necessary because of the disability, or using an available parking space near the unit. When a guest requests such an accommodation, the host and the guest should engage in a dialogue to explore mutually agreeable ways to ensure the unit meets the guest’s needs.
- Homes & Cribs hosts may:
- Provide factually accurate information about the unit’s accessibility features (or lack of them), allowing for guests with disabilities to assess for themselves whether the unit is appropriate to their individual needs.
Personal Preferences
- Homes & Cribs hosts may:
- Except as noted above, Homes & Cribs hosts may decline a booking based on factors that are not prohibited by law. For example, except where prohibited by law, Homes & Cribs hosts may decline a booking with pets, or to guests who smoke.
- Require guests to respect restrictions on foods consumed in the listing (e.g., a host who maintains a vegetarian kitchen may require guests to respect those restrictions). These restrictions should be stated clearly in your house rules. For example, a Homes & Cribs host may turn down a guest who wants to smoke in a unit, or place limits on the number of guests in a unit.
When guests are turned down. Hosts should keep in mind that no one likes to be turned down. While a host may have, and articulate, lawful and legitimate reasons for turning down a potential guest, it may cause that member to feel unwelcome or excluded. Hosts should make every effort to be welcoming to guests of all backgrounds. Hosts who demonstrate a pattern of rejecting guests from a protected class (even while articulating legitimate reasons) undermine the strength of our community by making potential guests feel unwelcome, and Homes & Cribs may suspend hosts who have demonstrated such a pattern from the Homes & Cribs platform.
In some places, communities may allow or even require people to make accommodation distinctions based on, for example, marital status, national origin, gender or sexual orientation, contrary to our general nondiscrimination principles. In these cases, we do not require hosts to violate local laws, nor to accept guests that could expose the hosts to a real and demonstrable risk of arrest, or physical harm to their persons or property. Hosts who live in such areas should set out any such restriction on their ability to host particular guests in their listing, so that prospective guests are aware of the issue and Homes & Cribs can confirm the necessity for such an action. In communicating any such restrictions, we expect hosts to use clear, factual, non-derogatory terms. Slurs and insults have no place on our platform or in our community.
What happens when a host does not comply with our policies in this area?
If a particular listing contains language contrary to this nondiscrimination policy, the host will be asked to remove the language and affirm his or her understanding and intent to comply with this policy and its underlying principles. Homes & Cribs may also, in its discretion, take steps up to and including suspending the host from the Homes & Cribs platform.
If the host improperly rejects guests on the basis of protected class, or uses language demonstrating that his or her actions were motivated by factors prohibited by this policy, Homes & Cribs will take steps to enforce this policy, up to and including suspending the host from the platform.
The Nondiscrimination Policy applies to all parts of the Homes & Cribs business.