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Airbnb Is Doing An Experiment To Combat Rental Bias

This comes after the Oregon-based company settled a lawsuit with three African American women who said they were discriminated against.

Airbnb Is Doing An Experiment To Combat Rental Bias
Patrick Semansky / AP
SMS

Airbnb is trying to stop discrimination when users want to book a rental.

The property company is changing its policy on reservations.

For the next two years, prospective guests will provide only their initials when seeking a reservation, and they will release their first names only after a reservation is booked.

This comes after the Oregon-based company settled a lawsuit with three African American women who said they were discriminated against and prevented from renting once they provided their pictures and full names.

A study of Airbnb patterns by the Harvard Business School in 2016 found guests with distinct African American names were 16% less likely to be accepted as renters.