Swimply and rivals turn backyard pools into on-demand rentals

Liability questions follow growth in pool-sharing

A hot July day in Alabama last year meant a rented pool for Meghan Clopton and her family, who paid $381 for a three-hour birthday party at a Birmingham home they did not own. “It’s part of the culture now, right? Just, like, take over someone else’s house or pool for the day or the weekend,” Clopton said. She booked through Swimply, a platform that began in 2019 and has since expanded to 150 cities.

The pool’s owner, Jasmine Lawson, said she has hosted more than 1,000 guests a year at her Birmingham property, with bookings for graduation parties, book clubs and photo shoots. “And it grows every single year,” Lawson said. Lawson originally began renting out her pool to cover end-of-life veterinary costs for one of her dogs and now uses the income to maintain the pool, an expense she described as recurring. “When you own a pool, every time you turn around something happens and it’s $1,000,” Lawson said.

Swimply founder and CEO Bunim Laskin said the company “became big for the first time during the pandemic.” “Travel was impossible, and people more than ever needed a way to supplement their income,” Laskin said. He said he started the company after offering to pay a pool-owning neighbor for access.

The growth has drawn attention from state regulators. The Minnesota Supreme Court agreed this week to hear a case on whether pools listed on Swimply should be classified as public facilities, which would subject them to government licensing and inspection requirements. A lower court had earlier ruled in favor of applying such regulations.

Lindsey Cameron, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, said courts have been wrestling with the question of liability across the gig economy. “Because there is not an employer, as one typically thinks of, that you can say, ‘You have responsibility for the products that you are putting out into the world,’” Cameron said. Swimply covers up to $1 million in liability for hosts, mirroring Airbnb’s policy for home rentals.

Saša Pekeč, a professor of business administration at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, compared the legal uncertainty to the early days of ridesharing apps, which were banned in some cities while regulations were being worked out. “Some local communities might just say that ‘No, you cannot rent your pool because there’s too much liability,’” Pekeč said.

The prospect of liability concerns has already affected some pool owners. Lawson said her pool maintenance company dropped her as a client over concerns about chemical-related incidents; she now maintains the pool on her own. “It’s been crystal clear,” she said. She added that in her experience, incidents have been limited to the occasional Band-Aid request.

Clopton said she has considered building her own pool but was quoted costs between $60,000 and $110,000. She said she plans to continue renting in the meantime and has thought about listing her future pool on Swimply to help recover the expense. “It’s absolutely a great business plan and I would not say no,” Clopton said.