An Airbnb host has filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the company alleging it violated contract terms with its hosts by offering full refunds to guests under its ‘extenuating circumstances’ policy because of the pandemic. Anthony Farmer claims hundreds of dollars are owed from cancelled bookings.

The suit is seeking class action status, and alleges breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and violation of California consumer protection laws.

It suggests Airbnb is not always passing refunds back to guests.

“Because of the Covid crisis, hosts aren’t getting paid, guests often aren’t getting refunds and Airbnb is just coming out way ahead,” said attorney Aaron Blumenthal.

“Something that the lawsuit will be seeking is an accounting of where the money is.”

Farmer had already raised the issue and gone through arbitration court as per Airbnb’s terms and conditions, but with no success.

The allegations in this complaint are completely frivolous and without merit,” Airbnb said, and claims the arbitration process is still ongoing.

A spokesman for Airbnb said the allegations of the lawsuit are without merit.

“When the WHO declared Covid-19 as a global pandemic, we made the difficult decision to activate our longstanding Extenuating Circumstances policy and provide full refunds to eligible guests because public health and safety comes first,” Airbnb said in a statement. “While we know it had a significant impact on bookings and revenue for our host community, we still believe firmly that it was the right thing to do. The allegations in this complaint are completely frivolous and without merit.”

The lawsuit is notable as it comes after Farmer first tried to take legal action against Airbnb through arbitration court, as stated in Airbnb’s terms and services for hosts. To file his case in arbitration, Farmer worked with FairShake, a company that helps consumers file legal claims against companies. FairShake has been working with a number of Airbnb hosts to pursue legal action against the company since March.

“Neither the guests nor the hosts were getting that money back,” said Teel Lidow, CEO of FairShake. “That’s what got us started putting together this arbitration campaign that eventually led to this class action.”

Prior to the pandemic, Farmer relied on Airbnb as his primary source of income, using a cancellation policy that would have entitled him to at least a portion of a reservation booking if a guest needed to cancel. That was overridden by Airbnb’s extenuating cancelation policy.

“This is definitely impacting me during the pandemic,” Farmer said. “I’m pissed about it. I’m angry, to be frank, and I’m sure that I’m not the only person impacted.”

Blumenthal said they hope the case is granted class action status so other hosts who have similarly been impacted can join the lawsuit. With the company preparing to IPO, this case could be of interest to the public, Blumenthal said.

“I think the public and potential investors would want to know as much as hosts how much money Airbnb has that, if our lawsuit is correct, is legally owed to the hosts,” Blumenthal said.

Both guests and hosts have complained about Airbnb’s refund policies since the pandemic. Airbnb blamed some of the missing payments on “a small technical issue.”

“I want justice for other hosts who’ve been hurt by this, and I want Airbnb to be held accountable,” Farmer said.