Your Pool Is an Asset—It’s Also a Lawsuit Waiting to Happen

Summer contains the best three months of the year in short-term rental investing: occupancy and rates climb, guests book further out, and your calendar looks like the one you dreamed about when you underwrote the deal. They are also the three months when a pool, hot tub, or wet deck can turn a profitable property into a six-figure legal problem faster than you can respond to a bad review. This is not intended to be a scare piece. The numbers are what they are, and if you own a short-term rental with a water amenity, you should know about them. The Data That Should Get Your Attention This Summer The CDC estimates over 4,000 fatal unintentional drownings happen in the United States every year. That is 11 people every single day. Another 8,000 nonfatal drownings are treated in emergency departments annually, which works out to 22 per day. For children, the numbers are worse. Drowning is the leading cause of death for kids ages 1 to 4 and the second-leading cause of unintentional injury death for kids ages 5 to 14. The number that should matter most to anyone reading this: According to Pool Guard USA, about 81% of fatal child pool and spa drownings occur in residential settings, not pu...