Elderly couple wants to extend another 6 months

[Lynette58]

Hi Everyone!  Hope you can help me with this situation.

In September 2020, an elderly couple booked my new AirBnb for a month.  After that, they booked several months.  They left while I had another month-long guest and then came back after they left. At that time, they booked through July.  I recently checked in with them and they told me they intend to book until January 2022.  

Although I am grateful for the income, I am concerned.  First I have 6 reservations in September and October.  I read that cancelling these will end with me losing SuperHost status And even losing my account.  Not Good.  

Has anyone had this situation?  Seems that my options are 

1.  Tell them no.  Maybe they will come back after my other bookings (as they did before)

2.  Contact my September/October bookings and try to get them to cancel?

What else?  What am I not considering?  Any advice?

[Anonymous]

@Lynette58  The only scenario in which I can imagine it being worthwhile to cancel your existing bookings is if the guests were becoming permanent tenants with a formal rental contract (incl. credit check, deposit, first/last, etc)  and you have no intention to ever host on Airbnb again. 

Asking guests to cancel just to avoid the penalties is not an option. The protocol a guest would follow to complete that cancellation process would involve clicking the "host wants to cancel" button, and the end result would be the same penalties you would have had by cancelling on your own. Even one host cancellation would burn your listing; 6 would definitely get you banned from the site.

I'd say your choices are to either decline your current guests' strange request (don't they have a home to go back to?) or shut down the Airbnb business and secure long-term tenancies with protections that Airbnb doesn't provide.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Lynette58 If you have inadvertently created a tenancy you may struggle to get rid of your current guests. I would talk with them and see if they are willing to work around your current bookings. If not you need to decide if you are running a short term or a long term rental.

[Laura2592]

@Lynette58 Do not cancel your other guests. Having one super long-term guest is risky if you need reviews. Make them upset and your score is tanked as new host. If they leave no review, you are further behind than if you had several shorter stays. 

Airbnb is a poor substitute for a legal landlord-tenant situation. Unless you put your own lease on top of the (lack of) protection ABB provides you are out of luck when your "guest" decides to squat. If you want to do long-term stays you have to ask yourself-- what kind of guest would pay a premium in fees rather than just find a traditional arrangement with a landlord in the area? Many communities offer 3 or  6-month leases BUT they also require a credit check. I am always very suspicious of a "long-term guest" who only has to provide very cursory information instead of the full investigation and application/approval process that comes with renting most modern apartments.

I would say to this couple "We have loved hosting you! Unfortunately the dates you request are not available as they have been booked by other guests. We have to honor their reservations as we honor the reservations of all guests and therefore cannot approve a request to extend beyond your original date. We hope that you will stay with us again in the future!"

[Don-And-Emily0]

Have you checked the long term rental rules in your city? We are in NY and any guest staying past 31 days automatically gets squatter rights. In other words, if they decide to stop paying rent or not engage you on Airbnb, you will have to hire a lawyer to evict them. 

For an extended stay I would ask them to sign a proper lease with an end date, deposit etc…

As for the fall reservations, ask a CSR rep for advice, but don’t cancel them yourself.  It will affect your account.