A recent published Michigan Court of Appeals opinion provides important guidance on the status of short-term rental guests in condominium common areas.

In Litvin v The Village at Grand Traverse Commons Condominium Association, the Court held that an Airbnb guest injured in a condominium parking lot was an invitee, not merely a licensee or social guest.

The Court distinguished prior authority involving social guests or roommates and reasoned that short-term rental guests enter the property for a commercial purpose that benefits the condominium community. Because the condominium association controlled and maintained the common areas, it owed the plaintiff the ordinary premises-liability duty owed to invitees: reasonable care to protect against unreasonable risks of harm on the premises.

Key takeaway: Condominium associations that permit short-term rentals may owe Airbnb and similar guests the same duty owed to other business invitees when those guests use association-controlled common areas.