Under what circumstance can we forfeit security fee?

[Jai0]

Hello all,

We have been hosting for 6 months or so, and doing fairly great in terms of capacity due to our low rates.

There are several back to back guests checking out and in on the same day with just a few hours differences.

As the cleaning time is REALLY short, probably 2.5 hours maximum as some guests turn up early despite check in time stated to be 3pm. We usually has no time to check if there's any damage in the apartment unless it's really obvious. For example, we only found out recently that the ceiling fan speed knot is spoilt, someone broke it and place it back 'nicely' and it look like new! We usually don't turn on the fan when cleaning as dust will fly around, we just open the balcony door. I don't even know whose spoilt it, and fixing it means buying a new knot from the supplier and getting a handyman to install it.

Broken sofa bed anyone? Looks perfectly fine until you touch the mechanism, and we only got it for barely 3 months!

How about stained towels? Our towels are in dark grey and we are unable to bleach it to 'grey'.

Under such circumstance, how do you guys deal with it? Absorb the repairing/replacement cost or forfeit the guest's security fee. And the problem comes, most of them will say 'it is already spoiled when I'm using it' OR 'Oh, I thought it's suppose to be like that'.

Does anyone have a recommendation to deal with this unforeseen scenario? I can't be touching everything in the house as well as cleaning it in short time.

Thanks alot!

From,

Airbnb host in SG

[Clare0]

Hi @Jai0, all this sounds very unfortunate! Basically, since you are not in a position to say which guest broke any of the items you mentioned, you can't make a claim (not forfeit, that's the wrong word) against the security deposit.  Of course, if a guest admits to breaking something, you can ask them to pay for it.  In this case you go to the Resolution Center to make a claim.  Here's a helpful link: 

www.airbnb.com/help/article/264/how-do-i-make-a-claim-on-the-security-deposit

As for soiled towels and bed sheets, I only use white ones so if I need to use a strong detergent and/or bleach the color won't be damaged.  

All I can say, if you don't have the time to check all that needs checking between guests, then you are put in a position of not knowing who broke/damaged which item.  If you can't tell, then you can't claim any part of the security deposit. Would it make sense to you to allow more time between guests to check on these things? I rent an entire house which I clean myself and I block 1 1/2 days between guests to clean and inspect the premises after each guest.  This might not make business sense to you but it's an option on your calendar. 

I hope this helps.  If you have more questions, just ask. 

Good Luck!

[Deborah0]

Hi Jai

Clare has about summed it all up --- what I have discovered over time is that some damage/loss will always go uncompensated, partly for the reasons  you mention -- that you only discover the damage too late, either too late to submit a claim on the guest's security deposit, or too late to know which guest caused the damage.  So I have come to accept that some degree of uncompensated damage is part of this type of business.  As well, there are expenses which occur which guests can't be expected to pay for, such as broken appliance (unless it's clear guest caused damage) or clogged plumbing, etc.  So when running a business, all these expenses need to be factored in.  I suggest that to avoid high expenses, hosts do best to avoid expensive furnishings/appliances.  

Of course, it helps to do as Clare mentions and check everything thoroughly before the 48 hrs window to submit a claim on the security deposit has passed, or the next guest has arrived.   If there isn't time to do that, then you do risk not being compensated for damages.  So it's a trade off -- spend the time to check everything, or don't spend the time and end up writing off some damages.  

[Jai0]

Thanks for the helpful reply.

I have also thought of putting in 48 hours in between each guest. However, my rates is really low to benefit the guests as well as the competition. You have to agree that there's real competition out there. I need to have 80% capacity to breakeven, not even thinking about making profit. After paying maintenace fee, property tax, mortgage, cleaning fee(since it's mostly back to back, we have full time job ourselves), cleaning tools, utilities bill(crazy here), we barely make a profit. We don't mind that we don't make a profit as long as it can cover all the above mentioned. But we definitely do not want to make a lost.

Maybe I will consider increasing my price to have a longer 'break' in between.

Thanks for the input 🙂 I guess sometimes we just have to 'suck it up' for all the unforeseen damages 😞