Does anyone have experience Evicting guests?

[William251]

Does anyone have experience when a guest goes wrong and how you pursue evicition?

[Alice-and-Jeff0 · Accepted solution]

@William251 - You need to cancel their reservation and ask them to go.  However you will be met with several penalties if you do it this way.  

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990/i-m-a-host--what-penalties-apply-if-i-need-to-cancel-a-reser...

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/166/how-do-i-cancel-a-reservation-as-a-host

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/170/what-happens-if-my-host-cancels-my-reservation

If you think there is valid reason to cancel this reservation and do not want to be penalized, you need to contact Airbnb FIRST!  

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/forums/v3_1/forumtopicpage/board-id/announcements/page/1/thread-...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Contact-Airbnb-A-Community-Help-Guide-UPDATED/m-p/413245#M5...

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/544/what-is-airbnb-s-guest-refund-policy 

Good luck!

[David126]

@William251

I know in my County you go to the County Court House and they will help you with the documents you need to file. Not done it myself but was talking to a couple who were starting the process, should be the same where you are.

Did not sound too painful.

[Dionne2]

Well my case was extreme. I had the riot squad . No kidding. My guests were drug dealers and dealing from my apartment. I was told not to act until they were arrested so the stress was unbelievable of not doing anything. After they were arrested and damage was assessed. 

I email Airbnb to inform them of what happened. I had a personal phone call from them to make sure all was ok. 

I now keep the number to Airbnb on my phone and I ask for advice if I'm not too sure. I am glad I never had that same problem again but penalty or not I rather not have drug dealers and will have no problems calling the police and having a police report to back up my claim. 

[Clary2]

Okay....I'm a newbie with several properties and one of them an apartment style unit with four different rooms sharing the stairwell and main entrance.

My guests who seemed ok via text and messaging on AirbnB site seemed normal enough..checked in without incident and spent a couple nights with no issues.

Next night my other guest checks into the Penthouse...which according to the guys in the other units said "housekeeping" left it open.  They squatted in there and made a HUGE mess! It's a high end Penthouse.  All new high end furnishings etc....

I've only had 5 star reviews on all my properties...my Penthouse guests left me with a 1 star review.  They were nice enough in their comments about me and the unit..but due to the mess and noise.....it didn't end well.

I am wondering how I could get them to "tame it down"?  I contacted and asked them but they didn't.

Not very familiar with the Resort's policies about evicting someone or the Mexican laws or even AirBnB's policies but I think I need a little education here.

Looking for advice from a long distance newbie.

[Minghui1]

I m new as a host too. I and my husband own a house in Denver and are listing one private room on Airbnb. This guy sketched us out. On his profile, he described himself as a business professional. He always walks around half naked, not to an unacceptable point, but makes me very uncomfortable. My husband sent him a message suggesting him to put on more clothes, he just ignored it and kept doing this. Not to mention he used our drink and food from the fridge without asking. He also moved our furnitures in common area around without permission. He asked me if we have a lemonade jar, I told him we did not have it. Then he grabbed the coffee pot from our coffee maker and put his instant coffee in it and put it in the fridge... I was surprised for a moment that our coffee pot is missing. I called on him and he said since we did not have another container for him, he figured it is the only option.  Then it came to the point that he asks to move our desk to his room, I mean if a nice guest asks politely, normally we would love to help him move it, but to this guy, I kept silent. Then he went to his room and cursed “this is a piece of **bleep**” , yes,  that is the exact words I heard. 

Well, if we can let all the small things above go, we seriously suspect that he is a drug addict, I mean bad drugs, not weed. The first night was already sketchy, I and my husband both sensed it. He appeared to be super stoned. But we didn’t smell weed, so we are scared it might be some hard drugs. The second day, he was talking to some girl on the speakerphone for two hours very loudly to the point that it was very hard for me to focus on my work. I heard words like heroin, cocaine and cops and no drugs anymore.... so I m more sure that he is a drug addict. But again, I don’t have any solid evidence. 

This guy is also a big liar. He was on some sort of roommate interview phone call, and described us as his roommate and trying to get my husband to provide a good reference for him on the phone. My husband felt weird about it and then he went on to tell the other side that we think he is a great roommate. 

Anyways, He really got on our nerves, so we finally decided to evict him. I don’t want to feel like a prisoner in my own house.

We involved Airbnb to help with the situation and even offered to pay him a motel for tonight. We just want this **bleep** out of our house. 

We don’t know how Airbnb would handle this yet. 

[Minghui1]

I m new as a host too. I and my husband own a house in Denver and are listing one private room on Airbnb. This guy sketched us out. On his profile, he described himself as a business professional. He always walks around half naked, not to an unacceptable point, but makes me very uncomfortable. My husband sent him a message suggesting him to put on more clothes, he just ignored it and kept doing this. Not to mention he used our drink and food from the fridge without asking. He also moved our furnitures in common area around without permission. He asked me if we have a lemonade jar, I told him we did not have it. Then he grabbed the coffee pot from our coffee maker and put his instant coffee in it and put it in the fridge... I was surprised for a moment that our coffee pot is missing. I called on him and he said since we did not have another container for him, he figured it is the only option.  Then it came to the point that he asks to move our desk to his room, I mean if a nice guest asks politely, normally we would love to help him move it, but to this guy, I kept silent. Then he went to his room and cursed “this is a piece of **bleep**” , yes,  that is the exact words I heard. 

Well, if we can let all the small things above go, we seriously suspect that he is a drug addict, I mean bad drugs, not weed. The first night was already sketchy, I and my husband both sensed it. He appeared to be super stoned. But we didn’t smell weed, so we are scared it might be some hard drugs. The second day, he was talking to some girl on the speakerphone for two hours very loudly to the point that it was very hard for me to focus on my work. I heard words like heroin, cocaine and cops and no drugs anymore.... so I m more sure that he is a drug addict. But again, I don’t have any solid evidence. 

This guy is also a big liar. He was on some sort of roommate interview phone call, and described us as his roommate and trying to get my husband to provide a good reference for him on the phone. My husband felt weird about it and then he went on to tell the other side that we think he is a great roommate. 

Anyways, He really got on our nerves, so we finally decided to evict him. I don’t want to feel like a prisoner in my own house.

We involved Airbnb to help with the situation and even offered to pay him a motel for tonight. We just want this **bleep** out of our house. 

We don’t know how Airbnb would handle this yet. 

[Dale107]

Last night on the third night of a 3 night stay I had had enough.   They were fighting and being loud the who;le time they were there.  Last night I knocked on the door and we they answered I could smell pot and cigar smoke. This is a non-smoking house.  I did not hesitate and told them they have broken many of the house rules and they had 15 minutes to get out or the cops were coming.  I walked around to the pool area and there were two guys smoking pot and I said the cops were on the way.  They all picked up and left.  The place was a disaster inside and I had to rent an air purifier to help get rid of the smell.   So I am fairly new to this but I have received all 5 stars on the place.  So what should I have done or not done with the situation.

[Clara116]

@Dale107 Hey sorry about the smoking bad guests.  I think the clue to what might have helped was  - you say in the listing quiet time and love the place like we do and be respectful. You say "They were fighting and being loud the whole time they were there. They had broken your rule from the beginning and you might have gone over and knocked on that door immediately - and you might have discovered smoking then too.....BUT, instead they probably figured cool - we will do as we please. AND they did, I am sorry. So when we know they have broken even one rule - don't allow it - the smoking is a horror. I have a NO Smoking property.  Your listing says No smoking but ok outside ----- If its OK outside - I think smokers will smoke and its a set up for them to do it.  After folks request to stay here. I ask every guest are they smokers - and I have had a couple guests say yes - so we know many guests don't read the listings very often. I have on my first photo THIS IS A NO SMOKING PROPERTY.  I push this as many guests stay here because it is a no smoking place. Sometimes you just get bad guests - they seem great, you hear nothing even in the back yard and BAM they leave and the left behind is awful. Sometimes it just happens. happy hosting and good luck with all the next guests to follow. Clara

[Huma0]

@Clara116 

You are right. Many guests do not read, not even the basic stuff. Unlike you, I have a listing where there are areas that guests can smoke. This is clearly stated on the listing and in the house rules, which I always ask guests to confirm they have read before/when they book and ask them in particular to pay attention to the smoking policy. It's amazing how many responses I get saying, "Don't worry, I don't smoke," which lets me know immediately that they haven't read anything!

On top of that, several guests who told me they don't smoke (again obviously they didn't read the listing), seem to suddenly turn into smokers once they arrive and realise they can smoke on the terrace or in the garden etc. Rather than read the listing, they just assume the policy I am referring to is 'non smoking' and just lie about it instead. They didn't mean any ill will though, just thought it would be easier to say they were non smokers and only smoke when away from the property.

Luckily, I live in the property so rarely have a problem with guests smoking where they are not supposed to. It did happen a couple of times when I first started hosting and that's why I am really super clear about this now.

If I didn't live in the property, yes, you are right, it would probably be easier to just say 'no smoking' instead of saying smoking outside is okay, because that would attract more smokers and it's difficult to monitor it if you're not there.

[Joanna527]

how does airbnb safeguard against a renter not leaving on their check out date?  what happens if someone refuses to leave and new guests cant check in as a result?  what does airbnb do to prevent this?  Do they help with legal fees or pursuing action to evict?  do they charge them for extra time?  i had an awful experience with a guest (not received through airbnb) that is still ongoing and taking months to resolve with incredible loss of revenue and financial hardship for my family.  Was hoping that renting through airbnb instead would help safeguard in some way against this.  could a long time airbnb host please let me know if you've experienced anything like this and how it worked out - both the positives and negatives... just want to make an educated decision to prevent further revenue loss.  Thank you in advance!

[Helen3]

Hi @Joanna527 

As hosts who are running an STR business it is up to us to  safeguard against renters not leaving by their check out date. A marketing channel such as Airbnb has no powers to safeguard you against this happening.

You need to check your home insurance for STRs to see if it covers legal fees in the event you need to take legal action if this happens.

I have been hosting for five years and never had a problem with guests overstaying. I would say carefully vetting of your guests and not accepting long term bookings is the best way to minimise your risk of guests overstaying. You can also set your listing so you only accept guests with previous positive reviews. 

If you feel this is a risk area for you, I would make sure you understand your local laws and what you can do if this happens. For example where you live if you have a short term guest whose booking is finished can you ask the police for help to evict them?