Amie Tugwell’s Vrbo rental is contaminated with mold. She and her family checked out after one night. Why can’t she get her money back?
Question
I recently booked a vacation rental through Vrbo. I arrived close to midnight and it smelled weird. I found broken tiles and mold.
I immediately contacted the host, who assured me he would fix the mold. But he said he could not get the mold out from the wallpaper because he would have to remove it but he could spray it with bleach.
My husband woke up in the middle of the night with difficulty breathing. I gave him Benadryl and an inhaler. I put my kids near the front of the house with a window cracked open. We left the next morning before breakfast.
I contacted Vrbo and shared pictures of the property. Vrbo said it was not safe to stay and paid for a hotel. They said they would work on getting our money refunded. They have not been back in contact with us. We have called four times but still don’t have the promised refund. — Amie Tugwell, Hampton, Va.
Answer
I just took a look at the pictures of the vacation rental, and I agree — you shouldn’t have even spent the night there. Gross!
Seriously, Vrbo shouldn’t have places like this on its platform. But some slumlords — I mean, homeowners — want to make a quick buck, and it seems the only way to get a property like this removed is to complain about it. Which you did.
Let’s have a look at the pictures.
After you showed Vrbo the pictures, it agreed with you and paid for a hotel room. Vrbo has a Book with Confidence Guarantee that says it will take care of you when your rental is unsafe. And mold is definitely unsafe.
Reading between the lines, it looks as if the host did not see a problem with the rental. But the pictures were pretty compelling, and your medical problems were nothing to sneeze at, either.
How do you check your vacation rental for mold?
Your case is an important reminder to check your accommodations for mold. It’s more common than you’d think. And as you already know, it can pose health risks, particularly for those with allergies or respiratory issues. Here’s how to identify it and what to do if you find it.
Signs of mold
- If you see it. Check for black, green, or white patches on walls, ceilings, or around windows. Some mold can also appear fuzzy or slimy.
- If you smell it. If the rental smells damp or musty, it could be a sign of hidden mold. Trust your nose, Mold thrives in moisture.
- Check for water damage. Look for stains on walls or ceilings, which can indicate previous leaks. Water damage is a common precursor to mold.
- Is the humidity high? If the rental feels damp or has high humidity levels above 60 percent, that could be a sign of trouble. Mold thrives in humid conditions.
What to do if you find mold
- Contact the owner immediately. They’re often responsible for maintaining the property and should address the issue promptly. (Note: Most mold can’t be fixed quickly, so chances are you will need to find alternate accommodations.)
- Get good pictures. Take photos of any visible mold and note the conditions that led you to suspect it. This documentation can be important for any disputes or claims.
- No DIY cleaning. Don’t attempt to fix it yourself, especially if it covers a large area. Disturbing mold can release spores into the air, compounding health risks.
One more thing: Check your rental’s cancellation policies to see if you can cancel your rental. Many properties have clauses for health and safety concerns. And platforms like Vrbo and Airbnb also have provisions that require safe accommodations.
What about mold in your vacation rental?
I’ve seen many cases like this, where it appears Vrbo is trying to nudge an owner into giving a refund. Vrbo would tell you that it’s just a platform — an intermediary between you and the owner — but it actually has a lot more power. It could have forced the matter or just refunded you itself and then pursued the owner. But instead, it chose a middle ground, covering your hotel and then asking you to wait while it negotiated with the owner.
The way I see it, there’s nothing to negotiate. Your rental certainly had a mold problem, and the owner couldn’t have possibly gotten rid of it in a few hours. It would have taken a mold specialist to mitigate that kind of problem.
Vrbo couldn’t have it both ways. It needed to pick a side, and the right side was yours. A brief, polite email to one of Vrbo’s executives — I list their names, numbers and email addresses on this site — should have done the trick.
Unfortunately, there’s no magic rule you can invoke to get a company like Vrbo to do the right thing when there’s mold in your vacation rental. Vrbo agreed in an unrecorded phone conversation that you were entitled to help, but I don’t see any written evidence that it promised you a refund. Instead, Vrbo told you that you would not be getting a refund, a disappointing answer after all you’ve been through for several months.
You reached out to my advocacy team for help. I contacted Vrbo on your behalf to find out if that was its final answer. The company had another look at your case and decided it wasn’t. It refunded you the full $2,200 you spent on your rental.
