Booked guest then becomes guest of another guest then books again

[Anthony608]

I recently started renting my room and the response has been almost too good to be true.  Bookings already weeks out in the first 48 hours!  My question however, is what happens if a guest "games the system" to try and stay past my 21 day maximum mark (this was recommended in Maryland to prevent someone from becoming a legal tenant).  Example is they book a room for 20 days, then the next person, unknown to me, was their friend and then books 2 guests with the last boarder staying on another 20 days as thier guest.  40 days later, the original guest then trys to book themselves again for a max of 60 days, possibly with the second boarder as *thier* guest.  This hasn't happened yet of course, only being up for two days, but I could see a scanrio like this occuring by someone wanting to scam or get into a house as tenant thern refuse to leave.  Comments?

[Sarah977]

@Anthony608  There's really no such thing as a guest of a guest. You're the host and the people who book are your guests. If they book for 2 people for 20 days, and want to stay longer, and you're amenable to it because they're good guests, they can rebook so it's another booking for another 20 days. That way they wouldn't legally have a contract longer than 20 days, so you wouldn't run into landlord/tenant laws. If you don't want them to stay longer don't approve the reservation, and if they were terrible guests, flag their account and thumbs down. They won't be able to book with you again.

When someone books for more than 1 person, you should require the names of all the people on the reservation and check ID when they arrive to make sure it matches up. You can turn people away at the door if they've misrepresented themselves, although none of us want to be faced with that scenario. If you find yourself being scammed in any way, contact Airbnb, explain the situation, and ask them to either cancel the booking without penalties, or sort it out for you appropriately.

[Anthony608]

I did some research online and it is an engaged couple where the man booked the first 20 days with a guest, then the woman booked the next 20 days with a guest.  Its pretty obvious they intend to stay 40 days where at the 20 day mark the first boarder's guest will then become the second boarder with the first then becoming her guest.  I don't have an enourmous problem with this, except that they will defintiely need to be leaving at that 40 day mark because the next week is blocked off for a trip.  Since they have no legal contract to become tenants, its probably okay.

[Marie21]

@Anthony608 when a new listing get booked too fast maybe the price is to good, too low and under the market price, so be carefull when i  used to get booked to quickly it was because price were very low. Check competition around and see if u need to re ajust ur pricing.

Maybe those guests saw an opportunity for longer stay  but i would not take same guests over 60 days 

[Anthony608]

Yes, it is an engaged couple and they are switching places at the 20 day mark to become each others guest and vice versa.  I've blocked off the house after 40 days.  There is technically nothing wrong with what they are doing, I suppose, its just clear they are looking for a long term stay somewhere.

[Sarah977]

@Anthony608  No, guests are not "each other's guest". They are both YOUR guests- one guest books and needs to enter 2 guests on the booking. 

[Anthony608]

@Sarah977and @Marie21, yes the husband has the first reservation for 20 days with one additional guest; then the wife has the second reservation for 20 days with one additonal guest and no break between the two reservations.  Its clear the additional guests are each other and that these two will be staying in my home for 40 days which is beyond the 21-30 day law where people become tenants.  Would the fact that the reservation changed between the two of them protect me?  I am hoping they just need a place to live and are not up to something.

[Sarah977]

@Anthony608  I think that would protect you as far as local landlord/tenant laws, as each Airbnb contract is only for 20 days, but I'm no legal expert and I could be wrong, since it's actually the same 2 people.

I'd be more concerned, as a new host, with having someone in your home for that long, even 20 days. If they're terrible, disrespectful guests it could be a nightmare for you. It sounds like these folks didn't message you about any of this, you found out through other ways what they were up to? That alone would send up red flags for me. A straightforward person would have messaged first, said they see you only allow up to 20 days, and ask if you would mind if they booked the way they have. I guess this was an instant book? Do these people have any reviews, if so, did you read them or are they new to Airbnb? I'd actually be leery to accept these reservations, at least not without starting a message conversation with the guests to get a sense of who they are, what they do, and why they want to book your place for 40 days. There are guests out there who look for cheap listings with new hosts because they know that new hosts are inexperienced about vetting guests and they can pull all kinds of scams. If you don't feel good about them after doing so, contact Airbnb, and get the reservations cancelled based on you feeling uncomfortable with them trying to sneakily override your maximum stay limit.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Anthony608

to prevent this scenario in the future you can set your "availability" to block 1 day before and after each booking. That way nobody will be able to book for more than 20 days in a row. It will also give you the time window to clean and inspect the unit before the next day.

Unfortunatelly in our area the average stay is just 2 days so this is not an option for us but if your area is different then it might work for you

I think you are not in danger as the first booking is on one name and another one is on the other name. But I've learned that the law is often not equal to logic and justice and your concern is understanable 😞