What should I do when a guest damages my vacation property?

It is to be expected that you will be proud of your property available for vacation rentals on Airbnb (or other platforms such as Booking.com, Homeaway or Vacation Rentals). After all, you prepared it with care and made it live up to your guests' expectations.

You've invested money in furniture, rugs, paintings, and a few pieces of art to make your property nice and comfortable. As a result, it can be frustrating – and even upsetting – to discover that your home has been damaged by one of your guests.

How to avoid such a situation and if, unfortunately, it occurs, what to do?

That's what we'll answer in this article.

To do this, we will start with preventive measures, that is, those that, if carried out by you, will reduce the chances of problems and/or conflicts with guests:

Valuables
First of all, remove anything of sentimental value or high monetary value from your home to prevent damage or breakage. This includes photo albums, personal documents, family heirlooms and antiques. Make sure that if something breaks, it will be something you can charge the guest for and arrange for replacement.

After that, you can start the next step:

House inventory
It is essential that you write a list of all items present during your stay at your property (from lamps to chairs, from bedding to bathroom items).

Also, note the condition of floor coverings, walls, external areas and entrances. Take photos to support your inventory, and keep dated records of this type of information. Update these photos over time so you can visually track how your stuff wears out.

A cool tip is to separate the inventory into rooms to make it easier to check. Example: “Living room”: sofa, armchair, vase, TV remote control, cushion, etc. This type of organization will help a lot in the following topic:

Perform preventive maintenance and regular inspection
Do not rent your house to different groups without first checking that the previous guest left everything the way he found it.

At the end of every stay, always based on the inventory made, check the condition of everything and make sure nothing is missing.

If you are not responsible for cleaning and checking, train and guide a responsible person to clean and check your property whenever a lease ends.

In that sense, she will be your eyes when you rent your house. Ask her to test appliances and check the main items in the house. Instruct her to instruct guests to follow the rules you set.

Rules
Everything that is combined is not expensive. In order for your guests to take care of your home the way you expect them to, they need to know what is allowed and what is not. Thus, it is essential that there are clear and defined rules. It is important that these are sent to guests in writing in advance and that a printed version of them is displayed inside your home in a visible location.

Remember to elaborate them within the reality and expectations that you have with your property. Examples: If you want to prevent people from smoking inside the property, put a rule like “smoking only allowed in external areas”; If you are flexible in accepting pets, explain about the care that the pet owner should have, for example.

Lease agreement
Just because you received a reservation through a platform such as Airbnb or Booking, which offer different guarantees to the host, does not mean that you should settle down and not make a lease with your guest. The terms of vacation rental platforms will often defend the interests of companies as a priority, but they can let you down in some situations.

Reports are common of hosts who have already received a condominium or municipal fine for excessive noise after hours, or for breaking a condominium rule and, unfortunately, were not supported by the platform.

In this way, use platforms to advertise your property and attract guests, but be cautious. A bilateral leasing contract will always be welcome to show that there are several responsibilities on the part of those who offer a property for lease and on the part of those who rent it.

Security deposit
In the activity of vacation rentals, the security deposit is something very common and necessary. In the past it was done by check and in some cases even as a promissory note. Nowadays, the most common way to make this charge is through PIX, bank transfer and credit card.

This information must even be present in the configuration of your ad and be included in your lease agreement. Once you have checked the property before and after your stay and compared it with the inventory carried out, you will be able to make discounts in case there has been any type of damage. Always remember to document everything with photos, quotes, examples of similar products and other information that will help you to make this charge.

The amount to be charged for the deposit will depend a lot from property to property, be careful not to set a value that is too high that could make your stay unfeasible.

Home insurance
Be forewarned and arrange home insurance so you are covered against possible claims. Generally, coverage will help you in situations such as fire, windstorm, lightning, theft, electrical damage, collapse and possible damage to third parties. In addition to these rare cases, you will also have at your disposal occasional maintenance services for your property such as an electrician, plumber, locksmith, appliance repair, among others.

Having taken all these measures, we guarantee you that fewer problems will occur in your property.

But what if after all that something goes wrong?
In case something went wrong, even following all the previous measures, evaluate carefully whether it is worth getting into friction with the guest. Often, it's small things that aren't worth a charge and headache.

Problems are more the exception than the rule for vacation rental stays. That is, it is necessary for the host to be tolerant, as this type of problem is implicit within the risk of renting his house.

Also, be flexible and patient when charging the guest. These are moments that require rationality and patience to conduct the negotiation. Never use an accusatory tone, but always ask about what happened and let the guest explain their point of view.

Count on us to achieve your goals and rent your home with quality, profitability and stress free!
We live in a time when it has become easy to seek help for any type of activity we intend to perform. And, good news, Meu Anfitrião specializes in managing vacation properties through platforms such as Airbnb, Booking.com, TripAdvisor, Alugue Temporada, Hoteis.com, and over 40 others!

Meu Anfitrião allows you to enjoy all the benefits of being a host, without the stress and hassle of being involved in the day-to-day management and operation of your vacation home.

Contact us to find out more about our work.

Meu Anfitrião, your home in good hands!