Only renting to people who have had the Covid vaccine; also, consequences for bad renters

[Anne8819]

I figure that by summer pretty much everyone who wants a vaccine in the U.S. will have had access to one. I only want to rent to vaccinated people. It is irresponsible and selfish to not do whatever you can to help prevent spreading this lethal virus. That's my personal reason. If you want a business reason, last summer I blocked 3 days before and after each booking because of Covid.  Since I usually only get 2-day bookings, that seriously cut into my profits last year. If all my guests are vaccinated the risk of transmission will drop substantially and I won't need to have a 6-day buffer for each booking.

My next issue: Airbnb should have a s**t list for bad renters. Thank heavens most people are delightful but I have occasionally had the Guest from Hell stay here, and there is NO WAY I'm going to leave them a negative review!! THEY KNOW WHERE I LIVE!!  Right?!! I'm certain I'm not alone in this!  You have to leave a review before Airbnb asks "Would you rent to this person again?". How about asking that upfront, separate from a review?!  If the person gets an X-number of anonymous negatives, they should get thrown off, and that should be stated policy.  I'm now always suspicious of people with no reviews, especially if they've been members for a year or more. WHY hasn't anyone said anything about them? The way things are, I feel like turning off automatic booking and rejecting anyone with zero feedback. 

[Sarah977]

@Anne8819 I have never used IB and I've had 3 guests over the years who had had accounts for years and no reviews, who I accepted because their communication was fine. There were very valid reasons why their accounts had no reviews and they were all stellar guests. 

I've also accepted guests new to the platform and they were also fine guests. For me, it's all about our communication when they request to book.

And if you refuse to review bad guests, then you are part of the problem. You need to warn other hosts as you would like to be warned.

I've read a lot of hosts fearful, like you are, because the guests know where the host lives, but I've never heard of one case of a guest coming back to do anything nefarious to the listing or the host in response to a bad review.

[Ann72]

@Anne8819  Guests can’t see their own stars - because they know where hosts live!  So go ahead and give all one stars to someone and say something neutral like So and so stayed two days and no, you’ll never host this person again.  Those bland reviews really stand out in the sea of So and so was a great guest who left my house in perfect order reviews.

[Kia272]

@Anne8819  "You figure" by "summer" everyone in the US who wants a vaccine will have had access? I think you're wrong. It appears that it will be quite a bit longer before everyone in the US who wants a vaccine will have access to one.  I think your logic regarding accepting guests is skewed, and no- you can't "just rent to vaccinated people."

YOU can't change the behavior of others, so trying to control the spread of the virus according to your standards is unrealistic. 

I don't know why you've had a 3 day buffer between reservations, when all of the facts we have regarding surface spread contamination bely the need for that, and the fact that you've been open during the pandemic, regardless of your views on spread and responsibility, has allowed for both responsible and irresponsible travelers to come to your AirBnB. I have been open too, and all I can take responsibility for is that guests have a safe and clean space to be. I can't control their behavior while traveling here or while they are out and about locally. 

There is no way you can screen for vaccinated vs unvaccinated, and AirBnB won't allow you to do that. 

As @Sarah977 and @Ann72 said, you need to review accurately. I've also had many guests with 0 reviews who were delightful and responsible. Many people opened AirBnB accounts during the pandemic so they could travel closer to home and avoid hotels, and everyone has to start somewhere. There is a way to word your reviews so that other hosts will know exactly what you are saying, without going in to detail as to why and how a guest falls short. The review system benefits hosts like you and me so we can be fairly warned about who wants to come stay at our properties. 

[Lisa723]

@Kia272 

"...and AirBnB won't allow you to do that."

Can you document this claim?

Our house rules have included, since last July, that when vaccines are widely available all guests must be vaccinated (unless medically exempt), and we reserve the right to require proof.

[Kia272]

@Lisa723  As I'm sure you know, I'm just a person sharing my opinion on the message board. No, I can't "document this claim." Why be so confrontational? 

I'm not sure how you plan to enforce your policy, but that's entirely up to you. There is no nationally or internationally recognized documentation to confirm vaccine receipt, and there's a whole host of other issues that come along with this. Where does it stop? Why just Covid? Why not measles, flu, chicken pox, yellow fever, Ebola,  etc.?

Since your policy applies to a situation that hasn't happened yet- vaccines are not yet considered widely available (although I think we are getting close), you haven't actually dealt with this in real time. 

Until AirBnB comes up with a platform-wide policy, I think it's a guessing game. My "guess" at the time I wrote that, is that AirBnB wouldn't allow that. Who knows? 

You could contact AirBnB and ask, but then you'd better hope like hell that the CSA isn't pro-active enough to check out your listing and decide it's a policy violation. Good luck. 

[Lisa723]

@Kia272 apologies, I didn't intend to come of as confrontational. I thought you might have some information I do not, as supposed to presenting your guess as fact. I personally wouldn't assert that Airbnb will or won't allow something without knowing it to be true.

Yes, we probably can't realistically enforce our rule. But we can hope that it will deter people who don't intend to be vaccinated from booking. We have had people inquire whether we would accept negative test results instead, and when we said no they did not book.

If Airbnb disallows the rule, we will simply delist. Our business is less and less reliant on Airbnb, fortunately, and this would be just the final impetus. They are threatening to block our calendar anyway because we haven't signed up for the ridiculous new cleaning protocol-- we currently have a vacancy buffer between stays instead, mostly to protect our cleaners, but as you pointed out this is looking less and less necessary and we'll eliminate it in June.

[Kia272]

@Lisa723 Hi- I did indeed make a statement based on my opinion. Bottom line, I feel like AirBnB has demonstrated that money is their prime motivation. I just feel like they won't allow anything that limits a guest's ability to book, unless there are official restrictions/guidelines via local or national order mandating what has to happen. 

We are just beginning to emerge from this pandemic hell, and obviously we are way behind some countries and unions i.e. the EU, in plans for a "vaccination passport" and travel allowance or restrictions based on having been vaccinated. 

What I don't understand, is that once the vaccine is widely available, why you would continue with this stance. If you and your cleaners are vaccinated, and you have a stand-alone guest space, I just don't see it being a problem. I imagine that social distancing will continue for quite some time, so simple procedures like masking and maintaining a distance while interacting would seem safe to me. 

To each his own: you certainly have to do what works for you. It's great that you are established enough to move off-platform if need be. I hope for that some day, but in the mean time AirBnB is working for me. Cheers and good luck, Kia

[Lisa723]

@Kia272 -- It's not about our cleaners or me-- I live in another state, and our cleaners are already partially vaccinated. It's about respecting our local community and the global vaccination effort. Voluntarily unvaccinated people will continue to be a threat to those who would like to be vaccinated but cannot-- including all children, for now-- and to our ability to reach herd immunity. We don't want to bring such people into our small rural community and we don't want to participate in enabling their selfish and irresponsible choice. (Am I judging? Yes.)

[Kia272]

@Lisa723  I totally get it. There's just so much stupidity and ignorance about the virus out there, I don't feel that I can change it. The only thing I can do is act responsibly myself, provide a clean and safe guest space, and try to promote responsible behavior and travel on the part of others as best I can. But I can't control the behavior of others. If they don't come to my listing they will find another. If they're going to travel irresponsibly- unvaccinated -unmasked- not social distancing- they'll do it regardless. That's the very sad truth. I respect your stance and truly hope that it works out for you and your community. Kia

[Caroline1123]

I rent in my home - a tradition B&B (and the way Air BnB started). I want anyone who comes in to be vaccinated.

[Gail-And-Rod0]

I agree with you. I only want Guests who are vaccinated. I don’t want other Guests, my housekeepers, maintenance person, pool, gardener or us  to be at risk because someone refuses to get vaccinated. Yes, it is a personal choice however its not fair to possibly infect others especially with the new strains present to risk other lives because of personal beliefs. I called Airbnb and asked  if we could refuse non vaccinated Guests and they said yes, so we are doing so. 

[Jacqueline126]

So I can in california require vaccinated people only? I feel uncomfortable to share my home when I'm there without knowing person is vaccinated

[Kelly65]

Those rules are discrimination. The health decisions of guests are none of your business... you're in the wrong business if you think otherwise. A nosey controlling host is the last person I would ever book with. 

[Sarah977]

@Kelly65 It isn't discrimination.  Discrimination refers to something a person has no control over, that is part of who they are- the color of their skin, their age, their sexual orientation, a disability.

If the health decisions of guests mean that they could expose others to a deadly virus, that is very much a host's business. It has nothing to do with being nosy and hosts control all sorts of things about their rentals, from the number of guests they allow, to accepting pets or not, to where guests are allowed to park.

If people don't want to get vaxed, that's their prerogative, unfortunately, but it doesn't mean they are free to do whatever and go wherever they want and put others' health at risk. There are plenty of businesses that now refuse to allow the unvaxed to enter their place of business and proof of vaccination is going to be required to participate in many things and attend many events.

In case you aren't aware, vaccinations of all kinds are required for certain jobs, for the military, for school, to travel to certain countries, and have been for years. No one has ever called that discrimination.

Accepting the consequences of one's decisions is called being an adult.

You have the right to accept unvaxed guests just as other hosts have the right not to and for you to say the hosts who won't accept the unvaxed are in the wrong business is extremely rude.