Long term Reservation Help

[Krista167]

Hello everyone. I am very new to Airbnb and have just accepted a reservation for my apartment in Toronto for 3 months. Now I am scared, because I didn't consider, in my excitement, all the ramifications in allowing a person I don't know to come to stay for that long. I am really concerned after reading some posts in the community, that he would be within his rights to stay on indefinetly as a tenant!! Is there anything I can do to protect myself? If I cancel, what happens?

[Emiel1]

@Krista167 

If you cancel you will be penalised, as mention here:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990/as-a-host-what-penalties-apply-if-i-cancel-a-reservation-for...

Did you ask the guests about the purpose of his stay ?

(I always ask this when people request to stay longer periods)

The risk of such a guest can get "tenant rights" depends on the laws of your country.

Airbnb advises to create a rental agreement (But must be mentioned in the listing BEFORE booking):

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1354/what-are-some-differences-between-longterm-hosting-and-shor...

You can cancel the reservation also later (after few weeks), but then there is most likely (besides the Airbnb penalties) also  an unhappy guest, leaving a bad review. You can also try to shorten it later (if there are issues with the guest and/or both parties agree to that)

Please note "long term stays" have some special rules attached:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/805/what-are-some-things-i-should-consider-before-hosting-longte...

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1361/how-do-changes-and-cancellations-work-for-longterm-reservat...

Hope this helps,

Emiel

[Krista167]

Thank you it did. But I also have to say that Airbnb was wonderful! They stepped in and really helped me out of the situation and they were very very helpful and understanding. This will not happen again. I didn't mean to mislead anyone.

[Apurva2]

 Your concern is very valid and you can cancel it  penalty free if you give safety concern. 

[Krista167]

Thank you.

[Linda108]

Is there anyway you can establish a rapport with this guest?  It would be very sad that you would punish this person for your ignorance of the difference between short term and long term regulations.  We all have a learning curve so it is important to take responsibility rather than punish what might be a good guest.

Have a message conversation with this guest.  Ask about why the booking and what are their expectations and even admit you are a little nervouse about a long term booking.  Use your instincts about the responses.  Then if you feel super uncomfortable, contact Air BNB.  

[Krista167]

Yes I agree completely. I did send him several apology messages, and tried, through Airbnb to see if we could book him for 3 27 day periods, but while I was doing that, they had cancelled him formally, and they called to explain the situation to him too, and then the next thing I saw was that 2 people had booked for 27 days and it was accepted on my behalf. So there wasn't anything I could do at that point except send David another apology and told him how terrible I felt for the mix up.

It won't happen again.

[David5641]

@Krista167 if you're not comfortable with long term stays, set the maximum nights to 30 or even less.

[Krista167]

Agreed. I think I have done that now with the listing. If only Canada wasn't so stringent about rentals - you see here, once a tenant is "in" or has squatting rights, say, I could lose my home if they refuse to go, or if they are termed a long term tenant then I as a landlord have very few rights. If I was ready for a permanent tenant, I would not have used Airbnb but gone through the proper channels we use here to interview and investigate a tenant thoroughly before they move in.

I feel terrible about what happened and sent him several apology letters. I was even trying to get a real estate friend of mine to help him locate an apartment.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Krista167  you are right, Airbnb is not the proper place to find long term tenant. From lacking security deposit and the contract to the fact that you don't meet the person face to face before booking. Our max stays here on Airbnb are set to 2 weeks only.

[Lizzie]

Hello @Krista167,

I hope you don't mind, I've moved your discussion out of the Toronto City board here in the Community Center. We will be shortly closing the 'Cities' boards and so I didn't want you to lose your conversation as it's still active. 

It looks like you are getting some useful advice from your fellow hosts. 

I hope you get this sorted soon. 

Thanks,

Lizzie