Long Rerm Alteration Pokicy

[Wayne330]

I wanted to reach out to community to see how many people are aware of Airbnb’s new policy where a guest with a rental over 30:days can alter or cancel their reservation after taking possession of the premises without your approval and no penalty.  This policy or structure is excessively punitive and unfair for the host.  So a guest make a 5 week, 2 month, 3 month reservation.  He/she does this 2 months out which will block your calendar for those dates. The guest then takes possession for one night and decides to leave. He provides you with 30 days notice.  They then stay in your house for the next thirty days and leave without any financial consequences.  Even something so simple like changing an airline ticket has a fee or penalty.  So they block your calendar for 8 weeks and then decide to leave after one night for no legitimate reason and there is nothing you can do about it under the policy. Short term rentals are getting more difficult because of the rules and regulations set up by the local governments.  Therefore Airbnb’s long term cancelation/alteration policy is going to be more important in the future and we need to make sure that is fair to not only the guest but also   the host. This policy is not related to the current situation with the Corona Virus and will stay in place long term.  I appreciate feedback and help in getting this changed back to where an alteration requires the approval or the host or there is a penalty upon vacating.  Thank you in advance for your input and help.

[Mary419]

@Wayne330 Is there any more info on this? I’ve had questions about how they handle long stays, and now Brian keeps mentioning Airbnb replacing leases so I’m really curious what they’re doing to handle monthly stays properly. My issue in the past is getting a problem collecting payment email on the 2nd month at the time it is due. Those emails come with a “you can cancel this booking” comment as the only suggested recourse. Which isn’t helpful once someone has lived in a house for a while already. 

[Debra300]

@Mary419, @Wayne330,

I would suggest that you accept multiple 30 day reservations instead of one longer-term booking.  To avoid your calendar being blocked for months do not allow the guest to have more than one active reservation.  You can block off the dates on your calendar to prevent others from booking, and either: 1) open the calendar when it's time for the guest to make a subsequent reservation (if necessary, you can make arrangements to refund any additional cleaning fee after the first reservation); or 2) the guest can send you a request for the dates of the new reservation, and you can respond with a special offer.  In GA, a guest acquires tenant's rights on the 31st day of their stay.  Their residency may also be further established if they receive mail at the address, or start any recurring service or registration that is billed/sent to the address (such as car payments and insurance, vehicle or voter registration, etc.).

With multiple individual bookings, the guest has been notified that their stay is temporary and not intended to become a tenancy.  In most cases, you will be paid 24 hours after the first day of each reservation, and will not have to worry about an unpaid stay.  Also, if you do not feel comfortable with extending the guest's stay at the end of a reservation period, you don't have to rely upon Airbnb to unblock dates on your calendar.  

I know that guests do not have to pay the occupancy tax for stays longer than 30 days, and you may have to adjust your price to make multiple short-term stays more attractive, but  it may be worth it and the thing that saves your sanity if you need to discontinue renting to the guest.