House Rules Advice and Feedback

[Shendra2]

Hi there...

I am new here. My property is a condo and the other condo owners renting theirs thru Airbnb as well. One day, one of their renters almost burned down the whole condo building. Because of that, now I am trying to protect my property from irresponsible and careless renters/guests like the other condo owner's renter/guest but hopefully my long house rule will not scare away my potential renters/guests. Please help... Thank you in advance for your time reading my long house rule. I am looking forward to hearing your feedback....

My rental property house rules:

1. You must be at least 27 years old at a time of reservation.
2. Contingent upon reservastions being fully accepted, we require a signed
Rental Agreement. We will accept your reservation at first, but then
require rental agreement to be signed and returned to us for full
acceptance of reservation. A contact email is required to send this
contract to you.
3. Including you, 6 guests maximum. We count an infant as a guest.
4. Substitution/subletting of any kind/NO guests of guests/NO substitutions
of guest is strictly prohibited.
5. Absolutely NO house parties allowed.
6. Guests under the age 18 must be supervised while on the balcony and
main deck
7. Renters and/or their guests are not allowed to invite others onto property.
8. No smoking, or vaping allowed within 25 feet of the building. Period. This
includes car port area, stairs, deck, balcony or storage shed.
9. No pets or wild animals (protected or venomous) allowed.
10. Please bring your own linen if you plan on using a fake tan lotion. Any
linen stained by fake tan will incur extra cost.
11. The condo is located in an HOA community that requires quite time after
10:00 pm. Guests from other condo are expected to do the same.
12. Prolong loud noises of any kind during the day is not allowed. Quite
enjoyment is welcome.
13. All guests must peacefully occupy the property.
14. Interference with our neighbors and/or their guests are strictly forbidden.
15. The property must be used for residential purposes only.
16. Burning candles, using fireworks, open flames (of any kind) or grilling on
the deck and/or balcony are strictly prohibited.
17. Do not engage in any illegal activities anywhere on the property. This
applies to both drugs and internet activities.
18. NO seafood (such as fish or bait), cleaning of seafood (such as fish) is
allowed anywhere on the property.
19. Feel free to use the kitchen for simple cooking, and cooking of anything
that causes a strong ordor will possibly result in deep cleaning fees. We
provide basic cooking utensils. Please clean up after.
20. Trash must be taken out daily. Trash is not permitted to build up in
anywhere on condo. Our blue trash bin located in the carport area.
21. To access the property, guests must climb two flights of stairs. Running
up and down the stairs/horse play on the stairs of any kind is not
allowed. Guests should not overload themselves as they go up or down
stairs. Please be cautious when you are stepping down and up.
22. Throwing of any objects off of balcony and/or deck is not allowed.
23. Check-in between 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm and Check-out by 11:00 am. Early
arrivals and late check-out are not allowed.
24. Please provide your current phone number, as we will text you the check-
in instruction on the check-in day by 4 PM. Please leave the 2 keys in the
kitchen countertop when check-out.
25. RELEASE OF LIABILITY: THE RENTER ON BEHALF OF RENTER, RENTER’S MINOR CHILDREN, RENTER’S GUESTS AND INVITEES COLLECTIVELY (“RENTER PARTIES”) FOREVER WAIVES, RELEASES, AND FOREVER DISCHARGES SURFSIDE VIP AND ALL OF ITS EMPLOYEES, MANAGERS, MEMBERS, AGENTS, CONTRACTORS, AND ALL OTHER INDIVIDUALS AFFILIATED WITH OR RELATED TO IT, WITHOUT LIMITATION, EXCEPTION, OR RESERVATION FROM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY, ACTIONS, CLAIMS, DEMANDS, OR LAWSUITS, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO PERSONAL INJURY, SICKNESS OR DEATH, AS WELL AS PROPERTY DAMAGE AND EXPENSES OF ANY NATURE WHICH THE RENTER PARTIES MAY HAVE HAD, PRESENTLY HAS, OR IN THE FUTURE MAY HAVE INCLUDING RELATED TO A CONNECTION WITH OR ARISING OUT OF THIS AGREEMENT OR THE CONDO. I ACKNOWLDGE ALL RESPONSIBILITY AND LIABILITY OF INJURY OR DEATH CAUSED BY IMPROPER USE OF THE BALCONY, DECKING, STAIRS, CARPORT, AREA AROUND THE CONDO, WHETHER SUCH USAGE IS BY ADULTS OR MINORS.

26. INDEMNIFICATION: TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW, THE RENTER PARTIES HEREBY AGREES TO HOLD HARMLESS AND FULLY INDEMNIFY FROM ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, DEMANDS, CAUSES OF ACTION BASED ON OR ARISING OUT OF ANY INJURIES, TO SELF OR ANY OTHER PERSON, INCLUDING DEATH, OR DAMAGES TO OR DESCTRUCTION OF PROPERTY, ALLEGED TO BE SUSTAINED IN CONNECTION WITH, ARISING FROM, OR RELATIED TO IN ANY WAY THE PERFORMANCE OF THIS AGREEMENT, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY SUCH INJURIES, DEATH OR DAMAGE TO PROPERTY THAT WERE ALLEGED TO HAVE BEEN CAUSED IN WHOLE OR IN PART AS A RESULT OF AN IDEMNIFIED PARTY’S NEGLGIENCE OR SOLE NEGLIGENCE. RENTER PARTIES ACKNOWLEDGES AND AGREES THAT IT IS ITS INTENT THAT ITS DUTIES UNDER THIS SECTION SHALL APPLY TO PROTECT THE INDEMNIFIED PARTIES FOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR OWN NEGLIGENCE AND SOLE NEGLIGENCE. RENTER PARTIES SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGES THIS INDEMNITY AND HOLD HARMLESS AGREEMENT COVERS AND INCLUDES ANY AND ALL ATTORNEY’S FEES, DEMANDS, COURT COSTS AND OTHER CLAIMS AND ANY AND ALL OTHER EXPENSES OF THE INDEMNIFIED PARTIES AND SHALL BE ENFORCEABLE AGAINST RENTER PARTIES BY SURFSIDE VIP FOR SUCH FEES.

You are solely responsible for yourself, your family and/or guests, and must not permit any activities at 116 Howard Ave Unit I which are contrary to any law, ordinance, and/or applicable Health, Fire Department, Insurance Company or Condominium Association provisions. These are strictly enforced & any violations will result in forfeiture of all deposit and rent and result in immediate eviction.

Please use our condo with care. Other than that, HAVE FUN! Our condo, especially the location and the view, is crazy amazing! You won't regret your stay!

Find our video on YouTube!

Surfside VIP: A Very Important Place. For Your Very Important People.

[Emiel1]

@Shendra2 

I stopped reading half way the list and i guess potential guests will do also.

[Emilia42]

Same here. It is long and one can easily lose focus - although these are likely the guests you are trying to avoid. But I have a feeling many are going to say that they read and agree when in reality, they didn't.

@Shendra2 

[Debra300]

@Emilia42,

I also have a long-a$$ house rules list.  I remind guests to take time to read it between booking and arrival, and ask me any questions they may have.  I've had to add somethings which should be common sense not to do (e.g., don't stand on the furniture, don't take stuff that's not yours, don't dye stuff), because I have had some guests that just don't respect other people's belongings.

@Shendra2,

I read your list until the all caps part, which turned me off, because it felt like I was being yelled at, and it would have been difficult to read.  However, I do think that those two points belong solely in the rental agreement.  Please check your spelling and grammar (I make mistakes all of the time so I am used to seeing them).  I saw "quite" written for "quiet" a couple of times, and on Item 19, "ordor" for "odor", and  "Please clean up after" is incomplete (do you mean after cooking or after using the kitchen?).  Also, it will be difficult to prove what you may consider a "strong odor", and get paid for a claim through the resolution center, because it is subjective and cannot be photographed.  You would have to get written confirmation from your cleaner/cleaning professional that the odor exists, provide a copy of the receipt/quote for extra cleaning, and you still may not get reimbursed.

[Ann72]

@Debra300  "Don't dye stuff" - 🤣🤣🤣

[Debra300]

@Ann72,

You laugh, but it looks like my last guest dyed or rinsed something in the bathroom that I had to use Bar Keeper's Friend to remove the color from the sink.  It's just unbelievable some of the things that people do with someone else's property. 

[Ann72]

@Debra300  Oh, I knew you put it in for a very good reason!  I laughed (to keep from crying?) at the thought that we have to go around telling people things like this.  😂

[Inna22]

@Debra300 my daughter dyed her hair black in her shower and it colored the grout. It forever looked like black mold. Nothing could get it out. 

[Sarah977]

@Inna22  When I first tiled my guest room shower, I used black grout on the floor tiles (they're small pool tiles, sort of iridescent oil-slick color) thinking it would look good, but when I stood back and looked at it, I didn't like it at all. The grout was still damp, so I just wiped it all out and did it over in a sand color. But when it dried, I realized there were lots of patches where I didn't get all the black out, so it just looked like it was patchy black with mold. It took me years to get around to the huge project of scraping out all the black areas and redoing it. In the meantime I made a point of telling guests why those parts were black, that it definitely wasn't mold. Most looked at it and said they never would have noticed, anyway, if I hadn't pointed it out.

[Debra300]

@Sarah977,

The shower in my rental apartment has slate colored grout, but when it's wet it does look like black mold in the creases where the wall and floor meet.  I am not changing it, because usually it's dried back to slate by the time the guests arrive.

[Inna22]

@Sarah977 you did that by yourself? Impressive!

[Debra300]

@Inna22,

Your daughter probably would be the type of guest that I want to host.  She now knows the consequences of dyeing her hair at home, and is unlikely to do it at someone else's place.

[Inna22]

@Debra300 she has stayed at airbnbs a few times and she is the perfect guest. She has been trained by me to read the rules and descriptions and knows to clean up. If she were only the same way at my house! 🙂

[Helen3]

Also you can't put an age bar @Shendra2  unless your HOA stipulates this.

[Kelly149]

Actually, I've often thought that ABB disallowed age restrictions @Helen3 but i've just re-read all the terms again (did you all get the new ToS email??) and the ABB Terms (if I'm reading them correctly) say that a Host may not discriminate against a guest's age IF that is prohibited by law. So, if where I am it is not illegal to prohibit a "hotel" rental based on age, then I think I actually can make a choice to discriminate based on age.

Anyone else??

oh, and I agree with @Debra300 & I also have a looooong rules list. Some folks I am trying to run off @emilia42 and most folks I'm just trying to make sure I have a leg to stand on if I need to argue with ABB like @Mark116