Help!!! With a difficult long term guest

[Kimberly853]

So I am new to Airbnb hosting. I have a 1924 home that I have been restoring for a decade. It is about 85% done. I travel a lot for the summer and have stayed in Airbnb‘s for extensive amounts of money and not great accommodations. I decided that even though my house was not completed I could offer quality housing at a reduced rate. I planned to be gone the majority of the summer and decided to rent out three rooms long-term as work housing options. I think that one person is toxic in the entire house. He has been difficult since day one. I also feel that he is very vindictive and I’m concerned that if I call him out on the issues at hand  that he will do some thing much more damaging to my home out of spite. I feel extremely disrespected,  he is violating house rules, but he is here for another eight weeks, I have absolutely no idea how to handle him. 

[Kelly149]

As with all yucky things, leaving it alone rarely improves things. None of us can tell you what to do, but I can safely say that you should push yourself to do something. 

[Kimberly853]

Thank you for your reply. I don’t need to push myself, I am pretty confrontational. I have no problem calling people out. I have been biting my tongue and grinding my teeth for days. But he could just let water run for days, or stop up my drains, things that could cost obscene amounts of money by the end of eight weeks. He washes his summer laundry on heavy duty to wash and dry just because he can.He is a very vindictive personality and definitely doesn’t like being told what to do by woman.So is it worth the risk that he could reek havoc in my home? I’m not dealing with a logical, rational, person.

[Debra300]

@Kimberly853,

What is the reason why you have not already canceled the guest's reservation?  You said that he's breaking your house rules, and you feel uncomfortable in your home, because you cannot trust that he won't commit damages.  Call up Customer Service to explain your concerns, and ask for a cancellation (penalty-free preferably).  Of course you will get a negative review, but it may be less costly that having to fix stuff in your house.

[Gwen386]

I’m sorry and maybe it’s just me, but what house rule has he broken. Did you have a written rule stating “don’t use heavy wash” when washing light-weight clothing? What is making you feel he would be vindictive? What is he doing specifically that you feel is damaging to your house?  I’m just trying to understand what it is that he is doing that makes him a difficult guest. 

[Kimberly853]

I did not list the violations as it was not relative to the question of how to deal with a difficult guest. First this is a no smoking property. He smokes constantly outside.  My alarm beeps every time he goes out which includes all through the middle of the night he gets up and goes to smoke.It is disgusting, his ash tray has close to 100 butts in it. My whole house smells like cigarettes because it comes in on him. Yesterday one of the other guest got tired of the ashtray and dumped it Inside in the garbage, now adding the smell of filthy ashtray to the equation. He has refused twice to take out the trash from the house or to the road. It is clearly stated that long term guests are responsible for cleaning up after themselves and taking out the trash. My neighbor sent me a message last week that it had not gone to the road In 3 weeks so he took it out as a courtesy for me. It’s 90 + degrees and trash is just fermenting in the outside can. Soon it will bring all sorts of bugs and rodents. I sent a message to him and the other guest reminding them that it needs to go out and I was completely ignored. No response. I came back to town to check on things for a few days and waited the night for trash to go out and neither of them took it out. He also does not wash his hands.Not after using the bathroom or when he smokes. It is gross. Yes I am sure, he uses the downstairs bathroom that is mine. I am mostly gone for the summer. I filled the bathroom hand soap, as well as the kitchen hand soap, and the dish soap last time I left. I was gone almost 3 weeks, both hand soaps still completely full, dish soap only missing maybe 1/4. This house also has window unit ac. Before I rented I had a conversation about usage. I don’t expect anyone to be uncomfortable by any means , however part of why I rented was BC he works nights. It was discussed that he would run the air during the day and turn off at night while at work. Also it’s 65 - 69 at night so not necessary to run, since I’m home it runs 10+ hours at night while he is gone. As I travel for work and have dealt with the unreasonable pricing on work housing I price this very reasonable for people for long-term work options. I am charging half of what other people charge. Which is why I did not have instant book on and had conversations about these things before I rented. Do I have a house rule that says you must wash your hands after use the bathroom, no I would like to think that adults in their 50s know they’re supposed to wash their hands it should be a common sense rule. Did I have a conversation about the air conditioning upon renting yes, did I listed as a house rule no I thought the conversation would be sufficient. As for the laundry the only time I ever use heavy duty is to wash comforters which is not happening, there is no need to wash shorts and T-shirts on heavy duty. Other than the fact that it takes more water and more energy as well as drawing on heavy duty. Most of this should be basic common sense and a little common courtesy. The trash is an issue that he is just refusing to even acknowledge. It is clearly stated in the house rules along with the no smoking policy that is being ignored.

[Kimberly853]

Also, when I came home this week, I went to brush my teeth and the sink immediately backfilled with water. When I questioned him about it his response was I shaved it down my goatee it probably stacked up your sink. Just call a plumber. Do I have a rule that says do not trim your beard and wash them down my sink, no to me that is common sense for an adult. Right after he checked and I left for 10 days. When I came home my toilet was running. I turned the valve off and the next morning when I went to fix it he told me yeah it’s been like that since you left, I tried to fix it and re-adjust the tension on the chain but it didn’t work. If he had just jiggled the handle like a normal toilet it would’ve stopped running. When he tried to fix it himself and readjust the chain it got stuck under the flapper. And ran for days. At no point did he even bother to contact me and communicate but there was an issue. Again for me common sense would dictate if I’m in somebody else’s home and something goes wrong that you notify them. Under the heading of lesson learned I apparently will have to have an entire book of common sense rules but moving forward he is here for another eight weeks 

[Mark116]

@Kimberly853   I would take a breath because you are kind of co-mingling two types of issues...not washing his hands is not really your business, and washing something on 'heavy' is a completely minor issue.  Major issues are allowing leaks, causing clogs, smoking, assuming you have made it clear there is no smoking on the property at all vs. only no smoking inside the house, and refusing to take out the trash as agreed.

After you take the breath and outline the real house rule issues, issues that are likely to cause expensive long term damage, then I would contact Airbnb and ask for a penalty free cancellation as @Debra300  suggests.

If you believe he will destroy your property out of vindictiveness, then make sure you and hopefully some other family/friends are on site when he leaves.

Expect a vindictive review.  You might also start taking video or photos of any other evidence that he is not following the rules.

Don't expect common sense from guests, when they show it, feel thrilled, but assume that you have to treat them like 10 year olds.  

[Kimberly853]

So, I don’t really appreciate you telling me to take a breath. I came here for helpful constructive advise. This is not some rental property that I have lipsticked the pig, this is my home. I have worked for 10 years to restore this house it is personal to me. Also I did not want to get into all the ins and outs of the rule breaking because it doesn’t matter the question was how to deal with a difficult guest which still nobody has supplied an answer to. His hand washing absolutely is my business he uses my bathroom, when I go in the bathroom I have to touch the door knob and the light switch and the toilet handle that he has touched with filthy hands. As well as the refrigerator the cabinets and the kitchen drawers spreading his fecal matter all over. As well there are two other guests staying there so they are now touching his filth. Which absolutely makes it my business. Ending the contract and asking for a penalty free cancellation for my very first Airbnb guest is a horrible idea . And having one review that is a bad review, also a horrible Idea. that is not the answer. The question was how to deal with a difficult guest. None of the responses have actually addressed the question asked. There is no intelligence, or skill in ending a contract. The question is how to deal with him, how to work this out, how to get him on the same page without conflict. Not how to throw them out and hope I don’t get charged and eat a bad review.   I appreciate that you chimed in but this thread has turned out to be very unhelpful 

[Debra300]

@Kimberly853,

I did provide some guidance on what you could do, and didn't ask you about the house rules breaches, but you didn't even acknowledge it.  

So, deuces.  You do you.

[Kimberly853]

Cancel your reservation and getting a bad review is not a good answer. That is why I did not respond. It is my first Airbnb guest. Canceling  the contract on my very first guest and getting one review that is bad is not a good solution. Sorry. I was trying to be polite by not responding.. it also does not answer the question which was how to deal with a difficult guest. So with all due respect you did not provide  information relative to the question. calling customer service to end a contract does not help dealing with a difficult guest.

[Emiel1]

@Kimberly853 

You can shorten the reservation ("change" option). Also amend price in the change form to make a fair deal. If accepted it is a neat way to get rid of a "difficult guest" on a long term stay . Don't try to deal with such guests in another way, it will fail

[Kimberly853]

Thank you, I did not know that could be done.

[Mark116]

@Kimberly853  Your options are limited, I don't know what to tell you. 

If you don't want to get this person who constantly breaks your rules and who you think is unclean out of your house, then the only alternative is to sit down and tell him that there has been some kind of misunderstanding of the expectations of the stay.  Then go through again those expectations, get him to agree and put a summary of the discussion and his agreement on the message system.

I'm sure you won't want to hear this either, but it sounds like you need to be more specific in the listing and in the messages with potential/future guests about exactly what the expectations are, what the rules are, etc. so you can prevent such issues in the future.

Good luck.

ETA, your OP said you were concerned that the guest would damage your house out of spite, so you should not really be shocked that the advice you got was to cancel the reservation and remove the vindictive, non rule following, spiteful individual from your home.  

[Kimberly853]

Do I want home out of my house YES of course, will it be a beneficial start as an Airbnb host, not so much. Like most hosts I have goals. Allowing him to have a negative influence on my future would not be in my best interest. He is already there, my house already stinks, and is contaminated by his lack of sanitation. It will all have to be deep cleaned regardless of when he leaves. If he will be vindictive and damaging he will do it in a way that I won’t know till after he is gone. Putting non flushable down the toilet, leaving food crumbs to attract bugs, etc there are 2 other guests there so there would be no way of telling who did what.

 I need to just ride it out, take my lumps and learn. I have left the property. I will not go back till late July when he leaves. It was not my original plan but it is best I just stay away. I put out a trash/ recycle schedule on the fridge. If it not followed I will just pay my neighbor to take care of it.

Is it infuriating to be dismissed and disrespected in my own home absolutely, but my focus needs to be on my bigger picture. But I have to say, I have stayed at over a dozen Airbnb‘s, room rentals which is very different than the entire place. I have never seen common sense rules like do not shave a beard off in the sink, wash your hands when you use the bathroom. Etc. I also don’t see many ads that say please make sure you read and except the house rules prior to booking. But perhaps it is the difference between rooms in a home and renting the entire place. Maybe rooms in a Home flip 3 -4 days and there is not a buildup of these issues.  I have been looking since this has happened and my rules look like everybody else’s. I don’t think he even knows there is a house rules tab in the Airbnb rental. But moving forward, if I choose to Do long-term rentals buy rooms, before booking they will have to read and except the house rules. I may also have a print out that they need to initial upon move-in.