This is part of the problem when you remove the sort of regulatory frameworks that hotels and other larger orgs have to work within. It’s all fine and well to have vrbo/airbnb have non-discrimination policies, but anyone who rents in any region where rental supply is scarce is likely familiar with the sorts of questions one is asked that aren’t legal (or even appropriate in some cases). Because in those environments the weight is so heavily shifted to the lessor vs lessee, you often have no choice but to accept them. The time it would take to take the lessor to task on the discrimination isn’t worth it.
I am not a visible minority but I am an immigrant, and the process to apply for rental properties changed frequently as soon as that was known (and in our case we had to pay a double-down payment even though that’s illegal). And that’s even in a state with a fairly strong commission to adjudicate those sorts of cases - it just wasn’t worth our time and effort to do it. And that’s with government oversight. No way are the VRBO/Airbnb’s of the world going to be able to enforce their rules any better.
