Couch left by guest!

Kristen449
Level 1
Parkhill, Canada

Couch left by guest!

We had a guest rent for 30 days, with the intention of hosting them month to month for the next 5 months. We had agreed on a fixed price, however the guest decided that if she was on vacation for two weeks, she  should not have to pay for the time she wasn’t there, but still expected us to keep the unit exclusively for her as well as let her keep her personal stuff in the unit.

 

So nightmare guest. Long story short, her current rental ends on Nov 30 with 11am check out time. She’s already removed her personal items and is out of town. The issue is she has inexplicably bought a couch, even though the unit is fully furnished and crammed our current sectional into the master bedroom.  She has yet to respond to us regarding the couch and we have guests lined up immediately after her stay. Not only do we have to get the sectional out of the bedroom, we have no where to store her couch. What are we to do? I’m unsure about our obligation to store this couch for her and we don’t want it. It’s not like I can put it in a envelope and mail it to her. She lives 4.5 hours away so I’m not comfortable with delivering it either as it’s not my responsibility. Please help! 

9 Replies 9
Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

@Kristen449 I would message her (on Airbnb) and tell her you expect the couch to be removed and your furniture to be restored to its original position before her check-out time, and that if this does not happen you will have to bill her for the cost to have the furniture moved and her couch dumped. Then I would do that.

Laura2592
Level 10
Frederick, MD

@Kristen449  yet another argument against doing long term rentals on ABB. You are not set up for being a landlord here, yet a landlord you have become. Tenants don't get a discount for days they are away from the unit. There are provisions in leases that state what condition the place must be left in, lest a security deposit not be returned. And tenants normally don't review you publicly, disallowing your ability to rent to future tenants if the review is poor. 

 

First and foremost if you have not yet rethought your LTR strategy, at least add some house rules about what happens to leave behinds. A book or sweatshirt is one thing, but a sofa is totally beyond the pale. I would communicate with this person on the platform giving a hard and fast deadline for removal of this item and the return of your space to its original state. We say in our check in email that furnishings should not be moved due to the possibility of injury, so I might add something like that to your rules or info as well. But as you likely could not have predicted a sofa purchase, I would require this "guest" to either pick this item up by X time and date or know that it will be donated and any removal fees charged in the resolution center. Of course I would say it more gently...like the following:

 

"Hi guest-

Thanks for letting us know your plans. I wondered how you were going to work out the removal of your sofa. We have more guests coming and would need our space returned to its original state by X day/time.  If its not convenient for you to pick it up, I will be happy to call Goodwill and have it donated. I can send you an invoice through the resolution for any fees involved in dropping it off, as we aren't set up to move large pieces of furniture. Let me know what you prefer to do. If I don't hear from you by X time/day I will proceed with finding someone to haul it for donation as I know you are busy. Thanks again and best of luck!"

Christian2772
Level 1
Hicksville, NY

good luck but depending on your local laws beware she can be a tenant and then you have too evict her and you cant remove her stuff without a court order     and forget trying to get help from this company   i  had  a stay who was a pig and destroyed mattress with urine and blood  burnt sheets and damaged room  and i sent everything in to claim 3 moths and still get run around deciding to stop renting to air bnb if claim  doesn't get paid 

agreed on the fact that airbnb doesn't help at all in cases of problematic guests! A guest of mine claimed that a flat sheet that I have never provided to her, was suddenly missing or stolen from the flat and that she felt insecure staying in the flat. Despite my strict cancellation policy Airbnb cancelled her booking and refunded her unilaterally. Airbnb is evidently an unreliable business partner. 

Helen427
Level 10
Auckland, New Zealand

@Kristen449 
That's a most unfortunate but not uncommon situation you find yourself in.

If she has otherwise been a good tenant and is coming back it's best to try resolve it amicably.

Can she store the couch somewhere locally, like a storage Unit complex?

There's laws surrounding Disposal of Goods not removed so the other suggestions are not lawful, unless the time frame in law is passed.

 

It's good if you have managed to get a Guest for the time she's not there as that makes it easier.

Open communication will go a long way.

 

All the best

 

@Helen427 there are, but what I have outlined in my message above would be 100% legal in the US. If the laws are different in Canada where the OP lives, she would be well advised to check. And no one, anywhere, gets protection from ABB for a guest turned tenant. A separate lease is necessary to outline the agreement. This platform does not provide any assistance or legal backup in these sorts of situations. Thus I believe long term stays done here are a remarkably bad idea. 

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Helen427  "There's laws surrounding Disposal of Goods not removed so the other suggestions are not lawful"

 

Perhaps there are laws pertaining to this where you live, but it would certainly not be illegal for me to remove a guest's or tenant's belongings that they left behind after their tenancy was over. 

Hugo633
Level 2
West Palm Beach, FL

Be careful with long term and month to month rentals that exceed 2 months. Most states have different laws and regs, but in some cases you are required, by law, to start an eviction process to fully remove a tenant from your property. 

 

As far as the couch goes, write to her on airbnb and give her a deadline. I would keep the couch until the "set" deadline and I would either donate, trash, or reuse on another property if it can be cleaned and sanitized. 

C. Brothers Property Management, llc
Inna22
Level 10
Chicago, IL

@Kristen449 if she does not pick up, list it on facebook marketplace at a low price with pick up and use the proceeds to hire someone to move the sectional. I do not think you have any responsibility to store, I have looked in those laws at some point. This is not any different from someone leaving socks behind