Advice on a difficult guest?

[Emily13]

I have been renting my apt for 2 years and I have only had great experiences. I recently rented to someone for 100 days and she had two dogs. When she left the apartment it was a mess. My listing asks guests to leave the apartment in the condition they found it (though I always expect to clean and hire a professional - and I know that there will be dirt, and some mess).

This time, there were scratches on the walls and floors, scratches on the floor from the crates, and a very dirty mattress with yellow stains and dirt. I have to replace the tile, repaint the walls, and buy a new mattress. It also took 14 hours to clean the apartment becuase I had to scrub every corner for dog hair, bleach the baseboards and clean up vomit and dried stains. I only asked the guest to reimburse me for the mattress, but the rest of the items I am figuring out how to take care of myself. Overall it is easily $500-600 in damages and a day that I took off from work because the professional was only hired for a set amount of time.

Background is that we have dogs upstairs and our dogs got into fights with hers while she was staying with us. Since I was the host, I paid for any vet bills she had as I wanted her to feel comfortable. I did not ask her to pay for my vet bills. She chose not to leave and find a new apartment. Now that I have asked for reimbursement, she says that it was stressful and upsetting to live there, but never mentioned that during her 100 days stay.

I have rented to those with dogs before and had one girl who stayed for 4 months with two dogs and a roommate. They left the apartment in excellent condition. I have always had a good relationship with guests. My dogs have never had an issue with other dogs. And I have never asked a guest to pay for damages before.

1. Are my expectations unreasonable?

2. What do you do if you know that you are about to receive a negative review, especially when the renter had the option to leave but chose not to and you have tried everything you can to resolve the issue amicably.

3. How do you go about requesting compensation and still keeping the conversation pleasant? Has anyone has expeirence like this or resolved it successfully?

I feel really bummed because I have had such good experiences with AirBNB and now this guest is making me feel like a rotten host and person.

[Clare0]

My dear Emily, so sorry to hear of this experience! Where to start? Well, first of all, you shouldn't feel bad; your guest should be ashamed of herself and should offer to reimburse you for the damages, but from what you described, sounds like she won't.  Here's a link to the article about the Resolution Center where you can try to collect damages, but you have to act fast and have receipts/photos/documentation at the ready.  Otherwise, I'm afraid it turns into a she said/she said situation.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/767/what-is-the-resolution-center

Also, this is a very helpful instruction on how to use the Resolution Center written by @Dave & Deb some time ago. 

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/General-Hosting/How-To-Guide-on-Using-the-Resolution-Center

Hopefully you still have time to make a claim.  

Did you read this article from Airbnb? 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/805/what-are-some-things-i-should-consider-before-hosting-long-t...

Hopefully you are the wiser after this experience.  Many veteran hosts are very wary about long term stays.  New hosts seem to jump on them without really realizing what they are getting into.  I don't do it since in California a guest can establish tenancy rights after 30 days and if I have to evict them I have to go through the whole legal process. 

As for dirty guests, they happen and you can't avoid them.  But yours was there for 100 days compounding the problem.  Dogs? Well not all dogs are created equal and even the most docile gentle canines can be provoked into a fight.  Have you considered a "No Pets" policy?

I could go on with more suggestions, but it seems to me that what you really need is a hug and to get some compensation for the damages this person left you.  Read the articles and if you have questions feel free to ask.  We're all here for you!