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Posted on 01/20/2026 6:35:05 AM PST by Resolute Conservative
“They threw us out like we were trash,” Judy Morales said.
She, her husband, Eugene, and their children were all displaced when a fire ripped through their home last year.
“We were staying at the Airbnb because of the fire,” Eugene said. What happened in the weeks after the blaze tested them. “From the first day we checked in, we started having concerns.”
The Morales family said the rental house wasn’t in as safe of a neighborhood as advertised, and they had an incident with someone in the area who made them feel unsafe. They brought their concerns to the Airbnb host.
“At that time, I did let them know that our family does carry,” Judy said. “I was not carrying at that time. My husband carries.”
The discussion of the firearm is the crux of the issue. Shortly after that conversation, the Morales family said they were “abruptly” kicked out and forced to temporarily live in an RV parked outside their home that caught fire.
“In that moment we were shocked,” they said. “We didn’t even think it was real. He asked the guy, he said, ‘Are you kidding, is this a joke?'”
KXAN asked Airbnb about the removal, and a spokesperson said they could not tell us — for safety reasons — why the Moraleses got kicked out. The company also cited safety reasons as why it couldn’t tell the family the exact reason either.
Airbnb directed both of us to its firearms policy, and this is where the broader question of firearms and short-term rentals comes into play.
But a state law passed in 2019 gives tenants more power.
The House Research Organization explained this as a law establishing property owners “could not prohibit a tenant… from lawfully possessing, carrying, transporting, or storing a firearm or ammunition in the tenant’s rental unit or leased premises.”
KXAN has tried to contact the lead lawmaker behind the legislation, Rep. Dennis Paul, since October to obtain clarity, because the text does not specifically mention short-term rentals. At times, we would reach someone who said the office would get back to us, but we have still yet to get our questions answered on how short-term rentals come into play with this legislation.
So we took the conundrum to business and real estate attorney Jeff Kelly, who owns and runs Kelly Legal Group in Austin.
“What we have is legislation that specifically allows a firearm to be in possession of a tenant in a chapter 92, meaning a residential unit, and a chapter 91, which is a commercial unit. But we also have separate individual contracting rights of individuals that they’re free to contract whichever way they want to,” he said.
Kelly also said there is no existing case law that would establish a precedent. He explained how he would approach a case like this if he was asked to.
“Because it’s what’s called a case of first impression, you would file a lawsuit and then get through the trial court and then take it to the appeals court, because likely that the defendant in this case, the Airbnb or whatever company, would appeal that because there’s no precedent,” Kelly said. “And then we would have to see which way the appellate court goes.”
The Morales family said they eventually got almost a full refund and received more than they were originally offered after KXAN started asking Airbnb about the case. But they said they felt in the dark and treated unfairly during one of the most trying times of their lives.
“Made to feel like nothing,” Judy said.
KXAN also reached out to the Attorney General’s Office for clarity on the law and did not hear back.
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Why do people insist on broadcasting that they are carrying? Shutup and carry.
CONCEALED carry.
Always carry, Never tell.
Some people, both men and women are ‘afraid’ of guns and the idea of possessing guns. They only dwell on the violence guns can do when used incorrectly or illegally. That kind of person is near impossible to educate on the other side of the coin. It can be worse than dealing with TDS (Anti-Trump) hysterics who believe everything the media tells them.
Maybe this Airbnb guest thought she was legally obligated to tell that home owner about the guns her husband owned.
“Shutup and carry.”
Yup. Nobody needs to know.
They should have shut up and be able to protect themselves but is an AirBnB a rental or a hotel? Are the Moraleses tenants or guests? Should they have just looked for a short-term actual rental? Localities have wanted to treat AirBnBs as hotels because that’s how they want to see them for tax purposes. Morales’s own quote suggests they were hotel guests. Hotels can more easily kick you out for carrying or possessing. Tenants don’t really “check in” to rental properties. That’s what needs to be ruled on.
I guess this took place in Austin TX.
I am not sure I am on this ladies side. First she is complaining about the area? Its an Airbnb. The area is what it is. What is the owner going to do about it. Second, you live around there. So you always knew the area. And I bet you got thrown out for being a Karen. Your carrying or the area crime is not the owners problem until you made it their problem. The owner would rather no rent than your rent. She used the carrying as an excuse to get rid of you. Maybe thats not a good excuse. But the owner does not need you shooting through windows and doors. If you aren’t cool with your own guns and the neighborhood. Then she is not cool with you.
Good question...everything should be on a “need to know” basis. A secret is known by one.
Yep, stupid to say a word. Stupid to get out too. Just squat.
Yes.
Hotel or not I carry everywhere and ignore their signs. If by some miracle they find out and ask me to leave I will leave, with my money.
Yes, I don’t have sympathy for her, she got kicked out because she was stupid. Just pointing out how stupid some people are when it comes to need-to-know basis and how the city of Austin is a shithole.
Yep, that's what I would do aand don't tell anyone anything. I have stayed multiple times at a hotel in Lakewood, CO where the clerk was shot and killed behind her desk as the guy walked through the front doors.
If a law says someone can hold then no contract can contradict that — that would be breaking a law.
It was a bad area. So you nerded to carry.
God had you kicked out, do you would be safe though kicked out, safe from having the legal isdues of defending your lives and the financial cost and nightmares too.
You have been blessed.
Carry and rent. Do gays ask if illegal drug-fueled sex psrties with prostitues are ok?
Do illegals ask?
Do criminals ask?
Exactly. Why would you disclose this to the owner? None of their biz.
That’s a real surprise.
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