Guest Overstay Extending Rental

[Nicole1062]

I have a rental that was for 1 week and ended yesterday. When I went there to clean today they were still there. Apparently its a communication company that has travelling employees that they do rentals for. It's a group of three individuals and the "renter" is not one of the occupants. The renter wants to extend the stay, which is fine because I don't have another booling until next weekend. My concern is that instead of making a new reservation, they have sent a "resolution payment" for a generic amount. The amount they sent is more than enough to cover the additional time they want to stay, but will I still be protected if they make a mess or damage things during these additional days? I'm at a loss, I've never had anything like this happen before.

Additionally, my home reaked of cigarette smoke and I have a No Smoking policy clearly stated in my house rules. I have asked them not to smoke in the home moving forward, but should I be doing anything else?

Thanks for any advice you offer!

[Ann3]

I am unfamiliar with the business booking option. Were you aware it was a third-party booking for co-workers ahead of time, i.e. that the person booking would not be staying?

There are so many red flags with this, and I would get them out of there ASAP.  

They overstayed, the people staying are not the ones on the reservation, they smoked . . .out.

Extending the stay once it is over is not an option, and you are not covered for damage, etc., at the moment and moving forward, even if they send you more money. 

[Nicole1062]

@Ann3, @Sarah977, @Krystal16  Thank you all, I did not know until today that the person who booked the stay was not one of the guests. I need to call Airbnb tomorrow and get these people out of there if they don't get this corrected. I was unaware of the rule that the person booking must be one of the occupants. How do you even know  that if you have self check-in? If they would have left yesterday when they were supposed to be out I would never have known. I am seriously considering getting the ring doorbell so I can see who is checking in and out and entering/leaving my townhome. I assumed the person booking is responsible for the other guests they bring or give the entry info to.

[Krystal16]

I certainly would not want anyone in my home if they were not shown as being in the unit through Airbnb.  You wouldn't be protected from any damages at all.  Also if they were able to send money through the resolution center (which I hope you have not accepted yet) then they can change the reservation to extend their stay.  My suggestion tell them to book themselves via the app, do they not have their own account, if not it is easy enough to create one.

[Nicole1062]

@Krystal16Thanks, I am not too familiar with the resolution part of the Airbnb, so I don't know how to "not accept" the funds they are sending.

[Krystal16]

@Nicole1062

If you don't know how to not accept then you likely have not accepted it, its in the same area.

[Sarah977]

@Nicole1062   If this was not booked through a business account, then it is a third party booking and you would not be covered by Airbnb for anything, if the people staying don't include the person who made the booking. If this is the case (not a business account) then you are unprotected by Airbnb right now for these guests, whether they would extend the reservation or not. 

[Nicole1062]

@Sarah977Wow, how do I even know if this is a business account or not? I use self check-in, so how can I verify if the actual booker is one of the guests? This is the first time I have had this type of issue arise. His profile says that he is a business owner that travels alot and he had favorable reviews. Thanks for any info/tips you can give me!

[Sarah977]

@Nicole1062  I've never had anyone book through a business account, so I don't know how that appears on the host's end. You should ask Airbnb that when you talk to them.

I only host for one person at a time, in my home, so it's clear to me through messages at booking time that the guest who's coming and arrives is the one who booked, but off-site hosts will often send a message to guests when they book asking them to confirm that they are going to be one of the guests arriving. And if there are more than the booking guest coming, you can ask for all of the names of the other guests.

I'd definitely get some kind of system in place to see who is at your place- either an outside camera (which you have to disclose in the listing description) or the doorbell you mentioned, or make it a policy to go over and introduce yourself, if possible, sometime after check-in. (of course you'd have to text, call or message first, not just show up unannounced)

[Krystal16]

@Nicole1062

I would not wait until tomorrow call now.

1-855-424-7262, find out what you need to do.

[Nicole1062]

@Krystal16Thank you again! I'm just worried about my investment...

[Nicole1062]

@Krystal16, @Sarah977, @Ann3

**Update** I just spoke to Airbnb representative and it turns out that since the person booking said it was for a business trip I am still covered. She even told me that sending an additional payment through the resolution center was an acceptable method of extending the rental since they put "another week" as the reason for the additional funds. Farrah from Airbnb assured me that any damages will still be covered, etc.

[Sarah977]

@Nicole1062  Okay, glad it worked out. Hope the rep knows what she's talking about, sometimes they don't. Now you just have to get them to stop smoking in there 🙂

[Krystal16]

@Nicole1062 glad it worked out, and now you can actually get a peaceful night of sleep, if it was me I would have been tossing and turning all night.

[Sarah977]

@Nicole1062 One of the problems with the person who booked not being one of the guests is that the booker fails to give all the listing information to the others. The others haven't even read your listing description or your house rules (like no smoking). So it would be good to have a house manual (not too long and wordy or they won't read it) in the unit reiterating your house rules and anything else they should know about. And when you find out that the person booking is booking for others (if it's a business account, so okay), make sure you let them know when they book that they need to make the others aware of your house rules, or better yet, that they send your listing URL to them so they can read through it themselves.