Check your email & see changes. Looks
Significant
1 Like
I looked briefly yesterday but it looked like the changes weren’t laid out in black and white. I’m not going to quit using Airbnb so I figured I’d just pick up the important changes from here on the forum. LOL.
7 Likes
I certainly could have missed something when I read the new Terms, but starting with the bullet points and continuing through the detailed content, nothing significantly “new” or different stood out to me.
I’ll wait to hear from voices of Experience here😉
1 Like
I’ve looked and looked and I can’t find this email in my (ridiculously backlogged) account. I’m in the U.S. The TOS in my app says it’s dated February 10, 2022. I will probably miss something important as I am a bit sleep deprived. Following this convo with interest.
2 Likes
The 2/10/22 is the updated TOS. However new hosts only have already accepted them. For existing hosts, the TOS changes will occur April 2022. We’ve got time.
Link to new TOS
I see a huge change in the new TOS. It seems to me Airbnb is getting out of the “Property Management” business and strictly now is merely a “Payment Manager.” Airbnb no longer holds a “Contract” with Guests and requires Hosts to create their own rental contract with Guests. I’ve seen this coming for the last 6-9 mos. as when we reach out to Airbnb for help managing guests who have broken house rules, they offer no help except for a sympathetic customer service agent telling us what good hosts we’ve been. Now it is clear, any issues with guests now have to be handled on our own. So, what will now happen with our reviews and Super Hosts statuses?? I ask you, Hosts, how are you going to create a Rental Contract and how will you facilitate having Guests sign these contracts prior to booking? You can find this reference at the bottom of the first page of the new TOS.
3 Likes
In a different thread is a resource for Free rental document formats for US hosts. It looks like the site makes its money if you use it to share & e-sign documents.
I have a DocuSign account. Hosts have shared information about free document sharing services. Perhaps someone can find that thread or hosts can share the information again.
Granted most of the resources shared were USA based but I imagine there are similar services in other countries.
Thank you…I’ll check it out. I have a DocuSign account and access to NC Vacation Rental Contract. I guess I’ll need to discontinue instant booking and create a link for signing the Contract in an automatic message.
I have had a Rental Contract right from the start and have never had any problems getting my guests to sign and return it. I have experimented with different techniques and have tried very hard not to violate the TOS. Lately, due to issues with prohibitions on the use of external email, I usually end up asking the guest to authorize me to sign for them. I’ll probably spring for DocuSign. None of it will stand up in court. My intent is to discourage ne’er do wells and it has worked. I also intend to run it by a lawyer if I can thicken my skin a bit so I can stand the guffaws when he tells me it’s worthless. It really reads well, though, and serves the purpose of gathering the information I need (names of all guests, contact information) and assures me that the booking guest has read the bare minimum. If the booking guest should object after we chat about it, he can cancel. There are protections for guests but few for hosts. I’ve never viewed Air as anything more than a Payment Manager. They’ve never had my best interest in mind at all. As far as I know they’ve never offered anything but hollow gestures. Anything of substance was a one off for publicity. It’s a corporation not a partner.
5 Likes
That’s our job. Airbnb advertises our rentals and deals with the credit cards. There are many of us who have never expected the company to deal with issues with guests.
And as @Annet3176 says, rental agreements can easily be found online. 
5 Likes
Ok - so now we supply a rental contract for guests to sign.
I want to know what the cancellation policy will be if the Guest refuses to sign or supply any extra information required by the host.
Will the requirement of a signed contract need / must be in the house rules?
Will Airbnb refund their fees if the guest does not follow through?
Will we be penalised for a cancellation due to no signed contract?
1 Like
I’ve always had a rental agreement. It is in my house rules. If a guest doesn’t return it within 48 hours, I call up Airbnb support and they cancel the reservation for me, no penalty and no questions asked. Has been this way for years.
4 Likes
Like @dkelner, I know of many hosts that require ABB guests to sign their own contract. We do on Vrbo; guess I need to start doing it on ABB now.
For STR A separate contract appears optional. The Airbnb booking creates a contract that the host & guest will abide by the booking information. I think the new TOS was mis-read.
I do a separate contract for all rentals >28 nights
I think we’ve always had the option for a supplemental contract as long as it did not contradict what was on Airbnb
8 Likes
There are some new bits there, and it definitely needs a thorough reading. I noted that there is a sentence stating what I interpreted to mean that some day one may be able to pay for a higher search rating, but not yet. I can see the “sponsored” label appearing, like when online shopping. Also noteworthy is that “covid cleaning” seems to b e now mandatory. As the child of a surgical nurse, I’ve always held those standards, but I realize not everyone deep cleans between guests the way I do. I looked for changes favoring home share hosts as a special category, did not see anything that stood out.
2 Likes
Do you do a rental agreement for a less than 7 day stay?
Yes, every stay must sign a rental agreement. I do mostly 2-3 night stays in the off season.
My listing is in the UK and the email I received kept saying it only applied in Brazil. Not sure if I got the same email as other countries?
Some parts of it only applied to Brazil.
2 Likes