Ohio HB 757: Enact the Rental Home Marketplace Guarantees Act

Summary

This bill establishes the "Rental Home Marketplace Guarantees Act," which allows online rental platforms like Airbnb to offer damage guarantees to property owners without being regulated as insurance companies. The guarantees must be backed by actual insurance policies from authorized insurers, and rental platforms must disclose the guarantee terms on their websites and inform users that claims can be made directly against the insurance company if the platform fails to pay within 180 days. The bill affects online rental marketplace operators and property owners who use these platforms, subjecting the guarantee agreements to Ohio's consumer protection laws.

Bill Text

hb757_02_PH

As Passed by the House

136th
General Assembly

 Regular
Session Am. H. B. No. 757

 2025-2026

Representative Daniels

Cosponsors: Representatives Lampton,
Brennan, Lawson-Rowe, Mathews, A., Sigrist, Thomas, D., Tims,
Williams, Willis

To
enact section
3905.427
of
the Revised Code to
enact the Rental Home Marketplace Guarantees Act. 

BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section
1. That
section
3905.427
of
the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec.
3905.427. (A)
As used in this section:

(1)
"Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation,
incorporated or unincorporated association, joint stock company,
reciprocal, syndicate, or any similar entity or combination of
entities acting in concert.

(2)
"Platform contract holder" means a rental home market place
user who is the beneficiary or holder of a rental home marketplace
guarantee.

(3)
"Provider" includes both of the following:

(a)
A rental home marketplace;

(b)
An affiliate or representative of a rental home marketplace, who
issues or offers, as well as administers, either directly or through
a third party, a rental home marketplace guarantee.

(4)
"Reimbursement insurance policy" means a policy of
insurance issued to a provider and pursuant to which the insurer
agrees, for the benefit of a platform contract holder, to discharge
all of the obligations and liabilities of the provider under the
terms of the rental home marketplace guarantee in the event of
default or non-performance of the provider under the rental home
marketplace guarantee.

(5)
"Rental home marketplace" means a person that meets all of
the following criteria:

(a)
Provides an online application, software, web site, system, or other
medium through which a property is advertised or is offered to the
public as available in this state and that connects platform users to
enable them to share property;

(b)
Provides, directly or indirectly, or maintains an online platform by
performing any of the following:

(i)
Transmitting or otherwise communicating the offer or acceptance of a
transaction between two platform users;

(ii)
Owning or operating the electronic infrastructure or technology that
brings two or more platform users together.

(c)
If engaged in the offering of rental home marketplace guarantees,
does so only in a manner that is ancillary to the conduct of its
primary legitimate business or activity;

(d)
Is not a local or state governmental entity.

(6)
"Rental home marketplace guarantee" means a contract or
agreement issued in connection with a rental home marketplace,
whether or not for a separate consideration, to reimburse a platform
user offering property for rent for any damages for which the renter
is responsible under the rental home marketplace's terms of service,
with or without additional provision for incidental payment of
indemnity.

(B)
A rental home marketplace guarantee shall not be issued or offered in
this state unless the provider of the guarantee has made the rental
home marketplace guarantee terms available on the provider's web site
and complied with the requirements of this section.

(C)
To ensure the faithful performance of a provider's obligations under
a rental home marketplace guarantee, each provider who is obligated
to a platform contract holder shall insure all rental home
marketplace guarantees under a reimbursement insurance policy issued
by an insurer authorized to transact insurance in this state or
eligible to do business in this state pursuant to section 3905.33 of
the Revised Code.

(D)
Rental home marketplace guarantees do not constitute a contract
amounting to insurance of any character, and the contract's issuance
is not the business of insurance pursuant section 3905.42 of the
Revised Code.

(E)
Providers are not insurance companies, as that term is defined in
division (C) of section 5725.01 of the Revised Code, and rental home
marketplace guarantees are not required to comply with any provision
of the insurance laws of this state.

(F)
Reimbursement insurance policies insuring rental home marketplace
guarantees offered in this state shall clearly state that, upon
default or non-performance of the provider under the rental home
marketplace guarantee, the insurer that issued the policy shall pay
on behalf of the provider any sums the provider is obligated to pay
according to such rental home marketplace guarantee.

(G)(1)
A reimbursement insurance policy shall be subject to the laws and
regulations governing termination and non-renewal of insurance
policies in this state.

(2)
The termination of a reimbursement insurance policy shall not reduce
the issuer's responsibility for rental home marketplace guarantees
issued by providers prior to the effective date of the termination.

(H)(1)
A provider is considered to be the agent of the insurer that issued
the reimbursement insurance policy.

(2)
The insurer retains the right to seek indemnification or subrogation
from the provider if the in