How do I deal with Guests breaking house rules

How do I deal with Guests breaking house rules

Hi, 

 

I could use some information or feedback about a guest that broke house rules. My problem right now is that airbnb won't give me the deposit. We rent out our whole house on the beach. One big house rule is No weddings/parties. One quest clearly had a wedding and I have lots of pictures to prove it. By having the big party they also made the plumbing flare up and there was literally crap in the shower and toilets because too many people where using the bathrooms and clogging everything up. One reason we say no parties. It cost about $1000 to call a plumber and a septic tank guy, plus cleaning up some elses crap in a shower and having to put things back were they belong. 

 

Anyway, if we have house rules and they get broken why doesn't airbnb compesate for that? I mean whats the point in having house rules or a contract if it does nothing? 

 

Thanks

94 Replies 94
Kelly149
Level 10
Austin, TX

@MaryKathryn0 No, unfortunately ABB usually only allows for the removal of a guest for breaking rules. I don't recall ever hearing of a host receiving compensation for broken rules. You could potentially be reimbursed for the extra cleaning/plumber IF you have evidence, invoices, the time limit hasn't passed, you haven't checked in another guest, etc. Read some help center articles regarding entering a Resolution Center claim.

Come back and let us know if you're able to get anywhere with a claim please.

 

While you're in the help center you could read thru lots of articles since you're new and many things on ABB work differently than you might expect. Also, your profile is kind of odd and incomplete and your listing could use a better write up of rules. Again, lots of info about how to beef up both of those. Good luck

My suggestion is to police your rental and let them know your checking on your property. I would also make them pay a high depoist and n ot give it back until I checked the place out.  Its your rental. Its not Airbnb. They are doing the marketing for us at no cost exceot for the fee they take. Get some good renters insurance or AHS, American Home Shield. 

 

@Cissy0 This is not how “deposits” work on ABB. You should perhaps learn more about that before you receive the same unhappy news about the deposit as MaryKatherine did

But, yes, keeping an eye on the place is always a good idea

So if I understand what @Kelly149 is saying, there is no monetary compensation for breaking the rules unless there is an accompanying documented monetary loss to the host (i.e. a repair bill, damaged items that need replacement).

 

And actually, the reimbursement has nothing at all to do with breaking the rules; it is just the normal reimbursement for documented damages.

 

So is this the lesson hosts should receive:

The only real consequence for a guest when they break a rule (but don't cause any monetary loss) is a bad review from the host?

@Matthew285 yes, if a guest is breaking a rule then a host's only recourse is to remove the guest from the space. And then yes, the host (and the guest) will be able to write a review. The host will clearly write a bad review, but what kind of review do you think the host will receive from the guest??

(however, to correct a commonly held misperception, when you remove that guest, ABB will refund the rest of their fees for the time they do not stay in your house, regardless of your cancellation policy. So, many hosts endure rule breaking guests unless they'd rather have the guest gone than receive the rent $. And as mentioned above, a removed, rule breaking guest still gets to review you, so that factors in as well.)

 

It is much better to write your rules as a deterrent rather than believing that they will actually protect you. 

The other thing to keep in mind is that your booking thru ABB is not a rental contract. But you are allowed to have a rental contract with guests and if you do so then you may have more recourse for pursuing the guest directly for rules infractions, but this will be outside of ABB.

@Kelly149, thank you so much for taking the time to explain these things.

We are relatively new to hosting, so we are not sure how things go.

Our guests have been wonderful so far, but we know it is just a matter of time before we get a difficult one.

 

Sharing your wisdom and knowledge really helps us new people.

After reading responses from hosts re breaking house rules , which is what is happening to me ATM( more people staying than paid for) I am seriously considering taking my property off AIR BNB.

 What recourse do you have for the deposit held if you cannot claim on it

I read that I can have an outside agreement but ABB has to agree with it too. Basically what I am reading every where, is that the guest can break rules cause damage and in the end it doesn't really matter and the owner will most likely not receive any of the deposit back. And that if I write a bad review for the guest, then it will come back to bite me in the butt. 

@MaryKathryn0 yes, you may have an outside agreement, it must be disclosed to the guest prior to booking but ABB will not be party to the contract nor will they agree with it in any way. Also, you must still abide by ABB terms (such as you may not ask for any money off platform or extra cash deposits etc)

Writing a guest a bad review causes no trouble (bc guest can't see your review before they write their own), but insisting that a guest actually obey your rules could cause a problem bc guests don't like being corrected.

Also, there is no deposit. ABB takes nothing from the guest up front. The security deposit is the amount that the guest could potentially be on the hook for IF an ABB CS deems them responsible for damage.

I had a similar probem with guests breaking Palm Springs Ordinance rules.   Too many people staying at the home when it clearly states the number of guests allowed by city ordinance and too many cars also breaking city ordinance.  I had a neighbor call me (instead of the city hot line) and I went over and informed the guests AGAIN that they are breaking city ordianance and they could be fined by the city if a officer is called out because of a neighbors complaint.

Of course the group (all young girls that then included there boyfriends) wrote a scathing review.   My only recourse was reply to there review and let people reading the review the true facts.   Unfortunately airbnb won't take down a bad review, even if it is unfounded.  

Next time this happens, I won't be nice and try to stop the ordinance breaking, I'll call and report them myself!

When renting a home, airbnb needs to stress you are staying in a neighborhood and there are city ordinances.  When staying in someones home, they need to act like it's there own home.   This can't be stressed enough!!!  If problems throughout cities continue with STR's they are going to ban them.  Palm Desert CA just made a rule of no more STR's unless in a gated community or condo.

SAD!!

Wow, @Bruce99, what an experience you had! I went to your profile to read what she had written and she seems NUTS. SHE USES ALL CAPITALS LIKE SHOUTING and that's always a bad sign!  No one will take her word over yours. One thing is for sure - if she ever tries to rent an Airbnb under her current profile, she will find it very difficult to get an acceptance!  Sorry you had to live through this - hopefully never again!  Do you use "air review" extension for Chrome? It allows you to see both the review the guest has received AND the ones they have written.  It can be useful in some cases - and in her case there's just the one crackpot review of your lovely place (which she says is lovely!) and no one will rent to her on the basis of that exchange. Good luck for future hosting!  Susie

@Bruce99, one more thing - somewhere in this thread or another one is a mention of a device called a "Party Squasher" - it counts how many cellphones are within a certain area and if the count is higher than your preset number, it sends you an alarm. That might be a way to "squash" a party in the making before it gets too out of hand!  Your house is just too **bleep** attractive and looks sooooo party-friendly.... this won't be the first time someone tries to have a party at your place!  Susie

@Bruce99 @Bruce this is an excellent point! If we can’t fine our guests for their infractions, at the very least they should be prevented from writing a review. None of us have ever seen a guest write a review that says “we broke all the hosts rules and he called us on it but it was a super experience”
Its not right that guests can ignore the guidelines that they say they’ve agreed to and then trash a host ‘s review thread as well. 

I have the same problem here in AUS ATM , no damm support from Air BNB. I'm out