Chapter 9 Rights of Innkeepers Right to Exclude Nonguests reasonable opportunity becomes a trespasser Persons entering a hotel who are not guests and do not intend to contract for a room are required to leave the premises if asked A person who has been requested to leave and fails to do so after being given a The operator may use reasonable force to evict a trespasser but only after the Excessive Force unnecessary force more than is required to defend oneself When ejecting troublesome customers the best practice if time permits is to call trespasser has been asked to leave and refuses the police Refusing Lodging to a Would Be Guest A general rule is that a hotel cannot refuse accommodations to anyone seeking them A hotel with vacancies must provide accommodations for all who seek them with limited exceptions If a hotel has no vacancies it may refuse a would be guest The hotelkeeper can also refuse persons who are criminals intoxicated disorderly unclean and unkempt or suffering from a contagious disease The innkeeper can deny a room to a prospective guest who is not able or willing to pay in advance a reasonable price for a room covering the duration of the intended stay A hotel can also refuse to accommodate guests with firearms explosives or pets The Consequences of Wrongful Refusal The excluded guest can sue the hotel for damages which may include additional expenses of staying elsewhere If the refusal is based on race color religion sex or disability most state statutes have penalty clauses requiring the hotel to pay a fine for the wrongful exclusion in addition to any damages suffered by the would be guest Age Age is not a protected class in places of public accommodation under federal civil rights laws or most state laws Therefore restaurateurs can refuse to serve a young person if so inclined The innkeeper has a common law duty to provide accommodations to anyone seeking them except people within the exceptions of refusing would be guests Thus a young person is entitled to hotel accommodations unless an exception applies Selecting Accommodations for a Guest If a guest asks for a particular floor or view the hotel is not legally obligated to honor the request but may seek to do so in an effort to please the patron If a guest s request is based on a disability the Americans with Disabilities Act required the hotel to make reasonable efforts to accommodate the guest Changing a Guest s Accommodations It is not good policy to change a room or move a guest s possessions without notice or permission If a switch cannot be prevented the preferred approach would be to inform the guest of the impending change and provide an explanation Evicting a Guest To evict means to remove someone from property The following are grounds for eviction 1 Failure to pay the hotel bill 2 Overstaying 3 Persons of ill repute guest with a bad reputation 4 5 Contagiously ill guests 6 Breaking House Rules 7 Persons without baggage a person intending to use the room for Intoxication and disorderly conduct prostitution or some other illegal purpose 8 Business competitors a business competitor who stays in the hotel and solicits their business to customers The Process of Eviction The innkeeper must inform the person being evicted that he she is no longer welcome on the premises and should leave If the person asks for an explanation the innkeeper must tell them their reasoning for refusal of service If the person refuses the innkeeper must tell them a second time that they are not welcome on property If refused again the innkeeper can either call the police or use force Excessive Force assault or battery Unnecessary force in the course of an eviction can lead to liability for the torts of Assault means intentionally putting someone in fear of harmful physical contact Battery means causing harmful physical contact to a person such as making a fist in a way suggestive of an imminent punch Verbal Abuse Statements made about the person being evicted can lead to a lawsuit not only for wrongful conviction but also for defamation or slander Defamation is the tort of making false and demeaning statements about a person Libel refers to written defamatory statements Slander refers to oral defamatory statements Privilege an ability to communicate alleged wrongful acts without far of a to a third person lawsuit for statements believed to be true but ultimately determined to be false Evicting a Hotel Tenant While a guest can be removed for the reasons already identified a tenant cannot A tenant is considered by law to have greater interest in the apartment than a be evicted without a court proceeding guest has in a hotel room Refusing a Diner people A restaurant not associated with a hotel has more leeway than a hotel to exclude A restaurant has the right to accept some customers and reject others However they cannot exclude based on race color national origin religion gender marital status or disability Statutory Protection for the Hotelkeeper The hotel lien gives the innkeeper the right to retain the personal property of a nonpaying guest Fraud statutes authorize innkeepers and restaurateurs to pursue criminal charges against those patrons who receive services but intentionally fail to pay The Innkeeper s Lien A lien is a security interest in the property of someone who owes money If the debtor fails to pay the lien entitles the creditor to take possession of the debtor s property sell it and apply the proceeds to the unpaid debt Applicable Charges Items on a guest s bill to which the lien applies include the guestroom charge service charges for delivery of a guest s baggage to and from the hotel valet services room service C O D charges and the like An innkeeper s lien terminates when the bill is paid The hotelkeepers must then return to the guest any property seized pursuant to the lien Defrauding the Hotelkeeper or Restaurateur Defraud to cheat or trick intentionally misrepresenting an important fact intending for someone to rely on the misrepresentation and thereby suffer damages It may be called theft of services larceny or fraud A difference between larceny and theft of services is that the former involves theft of property tangible items and the latter involves receipt of services without payment in circumstances where the provider expects to be paid Intent to Defraud A person acts intentionally when his conscious objective is to engage in illegal To establish a defendant s quilt of a crime such as theft of