HOME VIOLATION POLICY

[Linda2919]

I AM HAVING A HARD TIME GETTING A MANAGER ON THE PHONE FROM AIRBNB TO REVIEW A GUEST THAT VIOLATED MULTIPLE HOME POLICIES AND THEY ARE SPINNING ME IN CIRCLES.

I REQUIRE 25 OR OLDER TO BOOK - THE GUEST THAT BOOK WAS NOT EVEN PRESENT AND IN MY FRONT YARD CAMERAS SHOW NOTHING BUT TEENAGERS UNDER THE AGE OF 21 BRINGING IN ALCOHOL.

NO PARTIES - MY NEIGHBORS CONFIRMED NOTHING BUT TEENAGERS AND THERE WAS NO ADULT PRESENT AND THEY WERE PARTYING EVERY NIGHT TO THE LATE HOURS. THEY EVEN WROTE A WRITTEN STATEMENT. AIRBNB STILL HAS NOT RESPONDED.

DAMAGES - FROM MY POOL VACUUM BEING TAKEN OUT WHEN ITS ADVISED NOT TO, THINGS BROKEN, SOMEONE EVEN PEED IN THE BED.

AIRBNB CONTINUES TO GO IN CIRCLES THAT IM OUTSIDE THE HOST GUARANTEE BUT THEY ARE NOT VIOLATING THE GUEST FOR HOME VIOLATION WITH MY PENALTY OF $1000 MINIMUM. I HAVE OVER $1200 IN DAMAGES. 

WHAT DO I DO FROM HERE? HOW CAN I GET SOME HELP WHEN AIRBNB WON'T?

[Linda108]

@Linda2919  Please refrain from shouting on the forum.  We get it.  You are frustrated.  You do need to understand that Air BNB  policies do not cover rule violations in and of themselves.  Damages or other fee related violations can be claimed in this platform.  If you accepted a guest and the guest violated your rules, the review is your best response.  Also, you need to go through the process to prove the damages.  

[Colleen253]

 When the camera showed what was going on, why did you not go to the house to get these kids out? That was the first order of business. Never let something like this go on, hoping that Airbnb will somehow step in or compensate you. Begin a claim through the resolution center (note that first you need to message the guest and ask them what they plan to do to make this right...Airbnb requirement) and provide receipts and photos of damages as documentation. Report the guest who booked and facilitated this incident, and be sure to leave them an appropriate review. 

[Linda2919]

@Colleen253 we actually did not find out about the guest not being on the property till after the check in. This was literally our very first issue we had with a guest as we were then fairly new to Airbnb hosting. We try to give our guests privacy so we don't check our cameras unless needed so we checked out cameras AFTER we finally spoke with our cleaning lady and neighbor. Guest responded like she was there and even agreed in the messages that she would pay for the damages but when it came to it, she never sent the money and stopped responding and Airbnb can't get a response from them either. Airbnb even told me because of the home violation, they will deactivate her account for booking the property and not being there but they also did not do that. Yes - I began a claim through resolution center. I provided everything, camera images, damages, and they can even see messages from guest saying she will pay and then stopped responding and never sent payment. Left a review. Doesn't matter to guests like that. But again, airbnb isn't doing their diligence and is not even calling me per my request. Trust me, i did all of those and I am not getting any service from Airbnb to properly handle this that is what led me to get help on this forum. So where did the customer's security deposit go if it isn't going to me and why give it back even after the claim? 

[Colleen253]

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/140/how-does-airbnb-handle-security-deposits

@Linda2919 

[Linda2919]

@Linda108 pretty rude of you to assume and accuse me of shouting and trying to control how to speak. Just because i typed in all caps does not mean i was shouting. But even if i was, i don't appreciate the control issues you have. And yes, i did provide all documents to prove damages and the challenge is, i am not getting proper assistance with it. 

[Helen3]

Hi @Linda2919 

Sorry to hear about your awful experience with your guests. To help you as a fairly new host going forward.

1. How did you vet these guests before accepting their booking. Were there red flags such as locals having a short stay, lack of communications, no previous reviews?

2. As hosts there is only a point in having CCTV if you use it to monitor your guests on arrival (presuming here you or co-host don't greet your guests on arrival) and at key points during their stay including departure. This is not to do with guest privacy, it is about you protecting your business.

3. What I wasn't clear about is once you knew that the guest who had booked wasn't staying,  that many more people were using the place than had booked and they were partying and disturbing your local community, why didn't you or your co-host go over there immediately after asking Airbnb to cancel the booking to get them out immediately;  rather than letting them stay with the attendant impact on your neighbours and causing further damage to your property.

4. It's also not clear from your post why Airbnb said you didn't have a valid claim under their guarantee?

5. If you can't claim through the Guarantee have you not claimed through your specialist home insurance for STRs?

And actually writing in capitals is considered to be rude and shouting when writing on the web. If you are choosing to do this, then people will comment 🙂

[Mark116]

@Linda2919   Writing in all caps is generally considered 'shouting' and is bad form.

I do disagree w/the people saying that the host should have gone over to the property and confronted the guests.  This is dangerous.  People have been killed at airbnb parties in the past and I would consider it was nuts for any host to go confront a bunch of drunk teenagers having an illegal party  unless they were backed up w/police.

[Helen3]

@Mark116  so what would you suggest as an alternative. Doing what @Linda2919  did and letting the party rage for days with the subsequent risk of violence and damage to her home, as well of course as the disturbance and impact on her poor neigbhours.?

The best approach to protect your property and your neighbourhood, is to vet guests carefully and to go over and shut down a party before it starts, not when it is in full flow with drunken party goers.

If I was to do this,  I would always take security with me.

It is strange in the US you often seem to turn to your police for help with civil as well as criminal matters. In the UK, if you did that the police would laugh in your face... they will only get involved if a crime has been committed. There resources are limited and they need to focus on protecting the public and helping minimise crime.

[Mark116]

@Helen3  So, who handles disturbing the peace/noise violations in the UK if not the police? 

I would have contacted the guest and told them I can see through the cameras that they're having an illegal party against the rules, then given them 30 minutes to get the party goers out or I'd call the police.

[Linda108]

While you may have been new back in May, @Linda2919 , you have more than made up for your inexperience with a lovely listing and hight review ratings and have become a Superhost as well!  I am sorry you felt controlled by my feedback about using all caps in posting on a web forum.  I thought you might be new to this and not realize.

Anyway, from your subsequent clarifications it appears you might have difficulty getting any claim paid except for the message from the booking guest accepting responsibility for the damage.  If you accept same day bookings and do not provide 24 hours in between bookings, it can be very difficult to meet the claim process requirements.

I see that Lake Havasu City requires a local contact as part of the business registration process so perhaps this person can become a co-host for you.  This co-host would be able to act on your behalf should any problem arrive.  Just a thought.

[Linda2919]

@Helen3 - again, I was fairly new to this when this all happened. May was when we first hit our pick season and started our bookings and again, we did NOT know about all the issues until AFTER they were already checked out. That is when our cleaning lady found all the damages, and the neighbor gave his number to our cleaning lady and she passed it on to us. We live in another state so it's not that easy to pop up on someone especially if we were not on premise during the incident. Please don't make assumptions that everything is handled the same in the US vs the UK. Apparently the neighbor did not come say anything to these guests but ended up popping up on the guests after them to express their experience on the bad renters and they renters after that were very uncomfortable about him hassling them. So we are dealing with a chain reaction here that is hurting us and not in our control. So i agree with @Mark116  that in some areas, you cannot just pop up and kick someone out without having someone of higher authority on your side because if people are so free to break rules and laws, you put yourself at risk. Thanks for understanding that.

Again, i was unaware of this till after and we had same day check in so though i was communicating to the guest about the issues AFTER her check out, I was waiting for getting proper paperwork and fixed costs, damages, etc and i submitted it within the 14 days but but i missed that i needed to submit it prior to the next guest check in (which was same day) so that's the bump i am hitting. I understand i don't qualify for the host guarantee but my challenge is the home violation policy being broken and that not being handled. the guest said she would pay even acknowledged her error, but never paid and airbnb is not holding her accountable for it. she even acknowledged the damages and partying in the message thread, but again, airbnb is not acknowledging it. So it's my fault they aren't paying when they said they would and Airbnb is going to allow them to do the same to the next people that host them? 

[Sarah977]

@Linda2919  "So where did the customer's security deposit go if it isn't going to me and why give it back even after the claim? "

Airbnb's so-called "security deposit" isn't what you think it is. They don't actually hold a security deposit, so there is nothing to "give back". The security deposit is only there as a deterrent to damaging a place in the sense that it "could" be charged.

If you are remote hosting, feel that the cameras aren't there for you to monitor what is going on, and don't have a local co-host who can deal with such situations, then you can look forward to many more such scenarios, unfortunately. 

Shutting down party scenes should never be reliant on waiting for a call from disturbed neighbors- off-site hosts need to have techniques and protocols in place to prevent these scenes before they occur, or nip them in the bud. Which is not to say that having an established relationship with the neighbors, assuring them you don't want your business disturbing them and that you welcome calls if they see anything amiss isn't invaluable. But you do need a co-host if you are hosting remotely, whether that is someone who does that professionally, or a friend, neighbor, or family member you pay, who understands how to deal with undesirable guests, and will.