“A commercial pool rental is going to be a much higher impact — zoning codes look at that much more carefully — and so, you’ve got things like noise and parking impacts. You also have a number of health and safety regulations,” Swartz said.
When the agency receives a complaint that a pool owner is renting out their pool, the city inspector goes to the house and educates the homeowner on what the city allows. After that, they will fine you $150, a fine that goes up after each visit.
For jurisdictions that don’t allow renting private pools to the public, the issue has to do with safety concerns.
But beyond facing administrative fines and noncompliance fees for code violations in areas that disallow renting private pools to the public, personal injury lawyers say that across the country, the legal ramifications will be very severe if anything should go wrong.
Private pool owners have been sued tens of millions of dollars after someone drowned in their pool, and those weren’t even paying customers.
The platform does have an insurance program that covers $1 million in liability, but this is only a mere fraction of what a potential injury or death might cost a homeowner.
Darcy Merkur, a personal injury lawyer with Thomson Rogers law firm, said the $1 million in liability amounts to peanuts.
“If I was consulted by someone who was injured at a swimming pool, I would sue the homeowner”, Merkur said. “It doesn't matter if they have an airtight rental agreement, we would absolutely implicate the homeowner… and those cases are often quantified in the $10-million range.”
And while some hosts require pool renters to sign a waiver releasing them from all responsibility in the event of an accident, lawyers worth their salt can run circles around such agreements.
Merkur said that waivers might help in the event of a lawsuit, but they aren’t bulletproof.
“Lawyers like us get around them all the time,” Merkur said. “Renting out your pool, as a side hobby, is not advisable from a liability perspective at all.”
Furthermore, Swimply’s plan does not cover injuries arising out of alcohol consumption nor those related to the use of amenities such as pool inflatables and trampolines.
If a guest has a few beers, trips over a pool floaty and hurts their back, the host could be in for an expensive, uninsured legal battle.
Injuries occurring outside of booked and paid reservation times aren’t covered, either.
Loretta Worters, VP of Media Relations for the Insurance Information Institute, doesn’t think it’s worth it.
“This is a huge liability risk to take for the small price of making a few dollars,” Worters said.
Then there’s the host’s property to consider. Swimply offers property damage protection of up to $10,000, but that doesn’t cover losses arising from theft or damages occurring after booking times.
So, thinking about renting out your pool? Better think long and hard about that.
