we are no pets - guest brought 2 dogs

[Julie5163]

hi - I know this comes up alot in the FB groups but it hasn’t happened to me until now - so I want to get some input from this host community  —

we are no pets. clearly stated in description. 

although dogs are not seen on the doorbell and porch exterior ring cameras - they can clearly be heard barking on one history video I  reviewed after noticing a pet gate was being brought into the house. there clearly are 2 dogs barking.

do I wait until guests check out and see if there is any pet damage ? 

if so, do I bill pet fee through resolution center? if not do i just ignore and not ask for any pet fee charge)?

do I just address the “not following the rules” in the review or mention in the private comments to the guest ?

honestly it is the principle that is so annoying.

thoughts and experiences welcome….

thank you …

[Helen3]

No you absolutely don't wait until your guests have left. @Julie5163 

either contact the guests and ask them to leave because they have brought in pets against your house rules or ask them to arrange somewhere else for their pets to stay 

either option is likely to result in a bad review even though the guests are at fault. 

a third option is to contact the guest and say you have evidence they have two dogs at your listing contrary to your house rules and will need to charge them for an in-depth cleaning fee as you advertise a pet free stay. You absolutely need to make it clear in your public review the guests did this to help warn your fellow host.

in my case guests doing this are actually endangering my health as I have asthma which is triggered by pet hair. 

[Nicholas828]

Wrong. First ADA law permits service animals to stay in any and all Airbnb's. No guests has to state they are bringing a service animal. 

First step in this use case is assume the dogs are service animals. 

Service Animals under federal law must be under owners control at all times. Therefore they can not stay at the Airbnb Unattended and can not cause noise disturbances. 

Reach out to guests and say you hear dogs not under owners control. If you know they left the dogs unattended that's the violation of rules. Simply bringing them is not a cut and dry violation. 

You can not charge additional cleaning fees on service animals but you can charge for damages. That's federally regulated. 

If left unattended as service animals that's a violation of rules under service animal. 

If they admit (unlikely) they are pets that's a violation. 

You need more data to proceed. 

[Julie5163]

they are not taking the dogs with them when they leave the house for hours so they must not be service dogs or ESA. 

[Nicholas828]

Bam thats the violation. The dogs are not simply a violation. 

I would let them know 

"We do not allow pets and service animals may not stay unattended so in this use case either our pet policy was not followed or the Federal Service Animal law was not followed. If they are service animals you are to take them with you when you leave if they are Pets we ask that you leave and we will determine a fee or offer they stay and determine the fee" 

[Nicholas828]

Stop trying to figure out what they are. 

They could still be service animals and they are not following the law. 

Just stick to facts you know and the rules/ laws around them. 

[Nicholas828]

ADA law reads as follows

"Allergies and fear of dogs are not valid reasons for denying access or refusing service to people using service animals."

Federally you can not deny anyone in the US a service animal because you have allergies.

[Kia272]

@Julie5163  It's not a rule if you simply charge someone for breaking it. I'd ask them to leave. Guests who disrespect a major rule like this are just as likely to trash your house (also against the rules.)

[Nicholas828]

Guests can bring dogs and don't have to tell hosts. All federally regulated under ADA law. More data needed before assuming anything...

[Nicholas828]

Ignore these two one is in the UK different laws and the other could get you in Violation of ADA Law. 

You need more data. Service Animals are protected with a set of laws that if you violate could impact your Hosts Status. 

Right now all you know is noise so ask about the dogs barking. 

Pet gate is irrelevant. 

If you know they left the dogs unattended that's best case. It violated not only pets but also service animals. 

You have to assume service animals at this point.

[Jennifer1897]

Hi @Julie5163 

Here is how I would approach it given the currently circumstances. Service dogs are to remain with their handler and be under control at all times. Given that these individuals left two animals unattended, and they barked to a noticeable degree it would lead me to believe they are not service animals. However, for the sake of argument we can still assume they may be.

Per ADA and AIRBNB.

Guests are allowed to be accompanied by service animals during a stay or Experience and are not required to disclose the presence of a service animal before booking. A Host may qualify for an exemption in certain circumstances — for instance, if the service animal directly threatens their health or safety.

As a host you are however (Per airbnb)  allowed to ask specific questions

• Whether the guest requires their service animal because of a disability
• What work or task the service animal has been trained to perform

I would start there. You can send a polite but direct message concerning the barking. This should open a conversation about the animals and segway you into the two aforementioned questions if need be. If the guest discloses they are not service animals, you can decide how you wish to proceed. You can ask them to depart for breaking a house rule, or you can attempt to impose extra cleaning fees. Just keep in mind, some requests for extra fees due to rule violations are not always easy to obtain. I would also clearly mention the rule break in their review.  If in fact it is determined they are service dogs, then you cannot impose additional fees unless they cause damage to the home.