Potential Reservations asking about using the mailbox

[Rajan2]

I am wondering if anyone has had this happen to them.  We have had two different guests ask to use the mailbox. Each potential guests has no rating and is new to Airbnb. They are only wanting to stay for 5 days but want to receive their mail at the house. We do not have a private mailbox for the Airbnb and don't want to be responsible for their mail. Upon receiving the second request a few weeks later, it's starting to feel very suspect. They don't ask anything except the following:

1. Hello how are you ? I’m interested in booking your home but was wondering is there a mail box attached ?
2. Hi  im on a business trip and im looking to book at your stay is there a mailbox available for me to receive my mail?

Has anyone else has this happen to them?  Trying to accommodate, but this feels difficult to accommodate. They will want the physical address to get the mail posted to them and when they leave, we will now be responsible for future mail to our address. Seems like a major overreach that is not part of our contract with the guests for their short stays. Any thoughts??

[Debra300]

@Rajan2,

Do not allow guests to receive mail at your rental space, even if they are going to stay long-term.  This is of particular important, because you are located in California.  A mail address is the first step to gaining residency and tenancy.  Once a guest becomes a resident in your space, you will have to go through eviction court to remove them.  

Tell the inquirer that you cannot allow them to receive mail or packages at your space, and offer to tell them the closest UPS Store where they can rent a mailbox.  

[Rajan2]

@Debra300  Thank you for your response. This is EXTREMELY helpful. I was not aware of the tenancy rules for California. I am going to study up on them for sure. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

[Debra300]

@Rajan2,

In California, like many other states, a person is extended tenancy rights after staying in a place longer than 28-30 days.  California has tenancy laws that are very favorable to the tenant, and even pre-COVID it would take at least 4-5 months to evict someone.  The eviction moratorium has been extended in many places, and long-term guests could proclaim tenant's rights by refusing to pay.  Then you would have to pursue legal action to evict them.  Also, Airbnb cannot help you with removing any guest, no matter the duration of their stay.

[Huma0]

@Rajan2 

Please read this thread, which you might find relevant:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Do-you-let-guests-receive-mail/m-p/964607

[Rajan2]

Thank you for this thread @Huma0 Lots of clarity provided on mail and packages delivered to guests.

[Martin280]

This happened to me. Someone tried to use my address to register their business on google places which would have taken my own company's tag. I caught them beforehand and they cancelled. DONT LET GUESTS GET MAIL AT YOUR HOME!

[Inna22]

@Rajan2 provide them with a nearest location where they can rent a PO box or place that would hold mail. 

[Rajan2]

@Inna22 I am going to find the nearest locations for PO boxes so they can rent one. Dealing with Airbnb guests is time-consuming enough, we definitely don't want to deal with anything else once they are check-out. Thank you.

[Ute42]

.

@Rajan2 

I have read stories that guests were using their hosts adress to receive Amazon parcels. The products of course being bought with a stolen credit card. This can get You into a lot of trouble.

Don't let You guest use Your mailbox and don't let them use Your adress for anything else as just staying there.

[Rajan2]

@Ute42 This is very helpful. We try to accommodate our guests but don't want our hospitality to be taken advantage of.

[Huma0]

Agreed. Guests should not be receiving mail at your address, especially for short stays, or giving it out to third parties.

At best, you will continue to receive mail long after they leave as it's really hard to get off some mailing lists (I am still getting letters from the bank for a previous tenant, even though I have told the bank countless times that he left in 2011).

At worst, this could be out and out fraud. I have been the victim of quite a major identity theft case, where the someone managed to access all of my bank accounts, which I was then locked out of for weeks causing all sorts of problems for me, as you can imagine. They even went into the bank pretending to be me and made a bunch of large transfers.

That had nothing to do with Airbnb, but it transpired that it was postal fraud, i.e. someone accessing my mail. They don't need that much information to totally screw you over.

I also once reported a guest who had contacted me asking for my address in order to set up a business account here. The CS rep was really thankful because, when she looked into it, this person had messaged thousands of hosts asking the same, but no one else had reported it!

[Rajan2]

@Huma0 we are taking precautions with the existing Covid procedures so additional asks are very much pushing the limits of time we can dedicate to helping our guess more than we already do. 

Appreciate the information.

[Huma0]

@Rajan2 

That is a good point and I think a very valid reason to give to the guest when refusing their request to receive mail.

[Rajan2]

I have also reported them to Airbnb to make sure other hosts do not have issues with these accounts. It's not easy to report them but I sent two separate messages to let Airbnb know.