Guest was arrested

[Jessica3741]

Hello, 

I am a host and had a guest that was arrested a few days ago. I have contacted Airbnb support team and they have not been helpful thus far. The reservation is until Saturday (3 more days) but the guest did not follow house rules and is not welcome back due to safety concerns. Their belongings are still in the home and I am wondering if any other hosts have experienced a situation where the guest was arrested and did not return to the property. What did you do with their belongings? Do we have the right to remove their belongings from the home prior to the reservation ending? 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jessica3741 I would do nothing with the belongings until the reservation has ended. Entering before the guest's reservation finishes is a big no no and will get you suspended if Airbnb finds out. After that laws on how long you need to keep belongings vary by state-state and country-country so you'll have to Google that.

[Jessica3741]

Thank you! I will also add thay Airbnb support team did cancel the remaining days on the reservation due to violation of house rules so technically the reservation did end today. According to WI law, we can remove the items. Would you recommend disposing of the items? I hate to throw all their stuff away but we also cannot keep it in the home as we have other guests checking in Sunday. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jessica3741 surely you could store stuff at your place for a few days at least?

[Helen3]

Presumably you've reached out to the guest about this? @Jessica3741  (are there any valuable items) ?

Just pack their stuff away (photo/video)  and offer to keep for xx days in line with legislation in your area and then donate to charity .

[Joe-And-Kerri0]

Tough one Jessica.  I had a safety concern with a guest and airbnb was very helpful.  Call the main support number and request escalation to the security team.  They record all calls and you want to be on the record.  Make sure to follow up with correspondence via the Airbnb messaging portal.  Again, you want to be on the record.   They broke house rules and you have the right to protect your asset.  Take Airbnb’s advice on relocation of personal belongings and if approved document the address of the drop point in the portal to the evicted guest.  

[Jennifer1897]

@Jessica3741 

I've never been in your situation, but I have had quite a few guest leave things behind. Here is how I handle it. 

1. I would pack up their items and make a documented list of what was collected via the platform. 

2. Review the laws in your area, which it appears you already did. If the law in your area stipulates that you are allowed to remove and dispose of the items how you see fit, I would message the guest on the platform and give them the opportunity to claim their belongings in a set time frame. I usually offer for them to claim the items in person or have them shipped at their expense. 

You can say something along the lines of "Hello XYZ, we have packed and itemized your belongings as your reservation has ended. We are allowing XXX amount of time for you to claim your items, or they will be disposed of according. If you would like to claim your items in person we can provide you available times. If you would like your items to be shipped, we can do so at your expense. "

If they opt to ship them make sure you charge them via the platform before sending anything. And as always document everything through Airbnb. This is always your best bet if they come back to dispute anything.