Possible to increase deposits for long term stays?

[Michele511]

@Lizzie

Does anyone know if there is a way to get a regular security deposit for stays longer than 30 days?

It seems Airbnb is trying to open up their business model to include more long term stays, which I am open to.  But, where I live, once a tenant has been allowed to book, or stayed in your place, for 31 days or more they have all the rights of a regular tenant.

Since this is the case, I would want what I expect of any tenant, a proper security deposit of a couple months rent. If the guest decided to say longer and not pay “rent” you would need time to evict due to lack of rent.

Also, proper security deposit is be required at any furnished, month to month rental anywhere else, such as the Oakwood Apartments or other corporate housing.

Thank you in advance for your answers.

[Anonymous]

@Michele511  If you want the ability to have a Security Deposit actually charged, Airbnb is not the platform for you. Airbnb will only secure payment in 30-day increments, and has a broad range of circumstances in which the entire booking can be terminated with a full refund at their discretion. If they're unable to collect the upcoming month's rent from the guest's payment method, Airbnb will wash its hand of the matter. And you as the landlord may still be subject to your jurisdiction's renter protections once the period has elapsed in which the right of tenancy can be invoked - there's nothing Airbnb can do to help you with that.

I would not even consider using this platform for stays of more than 31 days in the state of California. But I can imagine using Airbnb to book a "trial period" before switching to an independent lease agreement with an actual security deposit collected directly.

[Michele511]

Thank you,  @Andrew0.

Airbnb is encouraging us to rent longer term. I imagine it's to help with the changing situation. My post is to encourage them to incentivize us to do that but allowing us to adjust the deposit on longer stays. Otherwise, of course, it would not be a good idea. 

Would this incentivize you to do it? Anyone else? 

This came about because yesterday someone expressed interest in booking from 1-3 months. I would do it if I were able to have a proper security deposit.

I tagged @Lizzie  because she is the only administrator I have seen in a thread. If there are others, I hope someone will tag them.

Thanks Again, Michele

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Michele511 

The biggest problem with Airbnb's *security deposit* is that it's not really a security deposit at all. I completely agree with @Anonymous  about Airbnb not being the right platform for longer stays .

With that said.....  I am actually a host that does a lot of long-term stays thru Airbnb. The only reason it works for me is because I limit long-term stays to international exchange students looking for a place to stay for 1 semester (4~5 months). I would definitely choose to have a proper rental contract with anyone local. 

[Paul154]

@Michele511 , Unfortunately, I don't think Airbnb actually collects a "real" security deposit. 

To make matters worse, landlords on the west coast are losing rights exponentially. In Seattle, we now have a 6 month morotorium on evictions (pragmatically, its really a year long morotorium).

I would advise you not to take in long-term. At a minimum, collect a big cash deposit up front (whether

or not allowed by airbnb)  

Good luck, we all need it.

[Michele511]

Hi All. I understand the problem. I am suggesting a solution that could be included in the platform. Hopefully a staffer will see my suggestion. 

I’d like to hear if anyone else would feel more comfortable with longer stays if we could get a real security deposit.

Thanks!

@Lizzie 

[Anonymous]

@Michele511 I don't think Airbnb has staffers combing the Community Center for suggestions on how to radically change their business model. This issue with deposits has been a very frequent topic here for years and they haven't addressed it, so I wouldn't hold my breath now that they've just laid off 1900 staffers. 

[Michele511]

@Anonymous  Do you know if another spot to suggest things?

[Anonymous]

@Michele511  There is an official channel for feedback, but they don't respond to messages sent there:  https://www.airbnb.com/help/feedback

You could try to get a discussion going on their social media channels such as Tw*tter and F*c*book, as it touches more directly on their brand sensitivity. Like you, I find it irksome that they're trying hard to push long-term stays but they've done nothing to adapt their product to the needs of landlords.

I'm also surprised by how so little of the press coverage has latched on to the fact that they don't charge the deposit; the vast majority of hosts, who aren't engaged in forums like these, seem to be completely unaware of this, and it's such a crucial piece of information. Since stories on Airbnb are pretty good clickbait these days, you might try nudgng any California-based journalists you happen know in the direction of this topic.

[Stephanie]

@Anonymous  you can say Facebook and Twitter, we don't mind 😉

[Anonymous]

@Stephanie That's nice to know, but Airbnb doesn't get to ban Susan and then pretend it isn't practicing stupid and unnecessary censorship. 

[Sarah977]

@Michele511  I'm not sure what you mean by "adjusting" the security deposit. Airbnb does not hold the guest's security deposit at all. It's just there as an "If you damage things you could be charged up to xx amount" . But unless the guest agrees to pay up, Airbnb does nothing about collecting the deposit, as far as I'm aware.

So what would need to happen is for Airbnb to actually charge that deposit to the guest and only reimburse it when the host clicks something to say they are authorizing the deposit to be returned, or if they actually paid that to the host and the host then reimbursed it to the guest if there were no issues. And I just can't see Airbnb deciding on changes like that- they far too much want to be in total control of all the money, rather than leaving it to the hosts.

But I agree, if they are going to urge hosts to switch to long-term, it is imperative that they make that scenario secure for hosts. This is why many hosts wouldn't consider doing long-term bookings through Airbnb as it now stands,  as well as because of the landlord/tenancy laws. And I wouldn't trust Airbnb's guest vetting procedure anyway- if i were to accept long term bookings, I would want the same kind of references, work history, etc, that a regular landlord requires.

[Michele511]

@Sarah977    Exactly. @And, Yes “adjusting” is the wrong word. “Creating” a security deposit system would be more accurate. 

I see many suggestions from them regarding long term rentals. They say more people are looking at the platform for them. I haven’t done it for these reasons. 

it doesn’t seem like travel will come back any time soon. They will have to consider doing something different if they are going to stay in business at all. 

The only requests I get are from people wanting long term and/or ridiculous discounts on their bookings. Not worth the time or the financial or health risks. 

[Mark116]

@Michele511 The problem with long term stays in the US at least, is that in many states it gives the guest tenant rights, which means you'd have to take them to court and evict them, which can take several weeks up to a few months.  I imagine CA is very tenant friendly state, so before you go long term you should research the tenancy laws that might apply.

[Michele511]

Exactly. This, the original reason for this post. 

im hoping to hear from at least the administrator. @Lizzie