Rental Agreement

Deborah28
Level 1
Maumee, OH

Rental Agreement

I am a new host to Airbnb.  I have my first contact interested in renting.  I don't see where I attach my Rental Agreement for them to execute.  I don't see a place to do so.  Deborah

78 Replies 78
Marit-Anne0
Level 10
Bergen, Norway

A booking through airbnb is an agreement/contract between guest and host.  You must simply make sure that description/cancellation policy/house rules/damage deposit/discounts for longer stays etc are clear and set before accepting any bookings.  Once accepted, there is no going back on terms and conditions.

I am quite confused myself about the lengthy new rental agreement from AirBnB that showed up on my screen when I tried to respond to an Inquiry from a potential guest.  It was an agreement that took quite an extended time to read and which seemed quite contradictory from one paragragh to the next.  I could not even get into the help section to ask for explantion of some of the paragraphs e.g. "notwithstanding the fact that AirBnB payments is not a party to the agreement between you and the host", but yet another paragraph states "Each host agrees that payment made by a guest through AirBnB payments, shall be considered the same as payment made directly to the host".  

It would seem to me that a customer friendly organization would have a blog, or a video explaining some of this legalalese as the average host is certainly not a lawyer. From my limited non legal perspective it appears AirBnB is absolving itself legally from anything that might happen and says it only acts as an intermediary.

ABB is a booking service, dressed up a bit.

 

I can see that trying to explain too much would lead to many potential issues. And it would never be enough for some.

 

The usual comment in these situations is to seek your own legal advice.

David

Exactly my thoughts about liability. I have been informed that my home owner's insurance will be voided due to problems with claims and which company would pay the claim. I have to go commercial at five times the amount each year for coverage. 

Kim

Have you looked into Slice.com?

Slice does not cover accidental damages under $1000 as there is a $1000 deductible. It is good for disaster insurance though.

Kim, There are many insurance providers that offer home insurance to clients who have "commercial exposure" like us hosts on AirBnB. My insurance is about 3 times that of regular home insurance, however I also enjoy more coverage personally and commercially.

Kim,

Farmers Insurance is issuing insurance policies for short term rental real estate.  It includes lots of valuable coverage.  The carrier that procured this for me was Eric Insurance.  But, one of their requirements was that we were within 10 miles of the rental.  We had professional management at the time.  But they want owners closeby.

Nanette & Co.

Yup, AirBnB is absolving itself of everything.  If they make an error, it is on you. 

 

Once, they did not pay me at all.  It took 6 months of complaining and threatening law suits before I was paid. 

 

Once, they accidentally refunded money to a guest, and then took it out of a separate payment that they owed me for a separate guest.  That took 8 months to undo.  

 

They are terrible, and you need to watch every single payment to make sure it is correct, and you need to fight their mistakes constantly.  

These platforms are all about their bottom line. They could not care less about the Hosts or Guests. 

Maybe it is time for a Co-op platform owned and run by Hosts?

I see no valid reason why an owner/host cannot attach the Rental Agreement.  It provides the guests with important information.  In my case, my rental is a condominium.  The condominium enforces their rules fairly strictly.  This information would be very helpful for guests to have BEFORE they book.  The other vacation rental sites permit the uploading of these documents. I request that airbnb review this as an option for hosts.

@Susan197

What other agencies/websites allow you to upload a rental agreement for a short-term rental? Does Vrbo allow it? 

 

A short term rental is different from a long-term rental where a host (property owner) carries a higher standard that s/he owes to guests because a furnished short-term lease imposes a different standard of liability. 

 

Yes VRBO/HomeAway and FlipKey/TripAdvisor both allow uploading of a rental agreement and present it to the renter to agree to before they make payment.

 

AirBnb help says that if you have a rental agreement, you must specify that in the description, but I haven't seen how I get the agreement to the renter.

 

Did anyone ever resolve this because I'm having the same issue?  I have been using a rental agreement with VRBO for 6 years where the renter must agree to the rules of a short-term rental as part of accepting the rental terms.  This is a big drawback as a host here on Airbnb.  There isn't a good place to put all of this information within the description, there should be a way to attach it separately.  Airbnb certainly has its terms and conditions that I must agree to when accepting each booking.