STRA Episode 14: What to do About a Party in Your Short-Term Rental

The Short Term Rental Authority Podcast

Episode 14: What to do About a Party in Your Short-Term Rental

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[00:00:05] Hey guys. Welcome back to the podcast. We are John and Wendy Williams with the Short-term Rental Authority, Your authority for all things short term rental related to help make you the best operator ever.

[00:00:21] And today we are going to be talking. What to do if someone has a party in your unit and the insurance that is related to short term rentals and more importantly, how to prevent it from happening in the first place. Yes, Yes. Excellent. Well, there are several systems and processes. Processes, processes. I think that's right.

[00:00:47] Actually. Pro. Oh, really? Processes, process. I really like processes because it makes you sound really smart. . So is this where you're like, how do you say that in English? , What's the English word for, Right, Right. , Maybe that's what it is. Maybe that's the French way to say it. Yeah, that's, that's always a trick, right?

[00:01:06] I never can remember. But anyway, So let's talk about the systems. Let's talk about the process first. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Because that's, The main thing right, is you gotta have a process. Yeah. You gotta have a plan. You gotta have a plan. Cause it's going to happen. It's, it's going to, it's, it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.

[00:01:30] It's a matter of when and it's a matter of how are you going to deal with it. Yes. And knowing that beforehand Yes. Is critical. . But I will say that, you know, this is something a lot of people are afraid of. You know, this, this is one of the re big things that people worry about is, Hey, I have this big investment.

[00:01:48] You know, what happens if a bunch of people show up and trash it? How do I get my money back? How do I right X, Y, and Z? Right? What about the neighbors? You know, am I get in trouble with the city? Like, right, there's all this [00:02:00] fear about it, right? And I just wanna say up front, For one thing, it's, it's actually kind of rare.

[00:02:05] Yeah, that's very true. At least in our experience and the experience of other people we've coached. Some areas are more prone to it than others, depending on and different property where are, where or more prone to it than others as well. I would say that's true and it's, it's I know it, I know where you're going with that, but I also know that it's not just those properties.

[00:02:23] Sometimes it's the area Yes. That you're in and, and the price point you're at and stuff like that. For sure. What's, what's number one? Like, what's the number one thing you should process that you should have in place to start with? And I would say it's your screening process. Oh, I was gonna say that too.

[00:02:39] Okay. Cause I think that's the, that's your first line of defense. That's why you know, your platforms like your Airbnb and your VRBO and, and things like that are popular. In a way it's because they do have. in a sense, some screening built in, right? So there's, there's a, a review system. You can see if this person's had good reviews in the past, had good interactions with hosts in the past you can see you know, have they gone through the process to verify their ID with the platform, right?

[00:03:11] So that's just another step of security and screen. And then beyond that, it's what is their initial first contact with you? You know, what is that message? A lot of times I feel like that can give you a hint as to who's coming and what is their intent. Right, Right. Because we typically ask people what is the reason for your stay?

[00:03:34] Yeah. And that's something you can automatically do on a platform like an Airbnb where it actually has. At least for Instant book, there are requirements. So I would say that's one thing you want to do is like instant book is something you actually probably want to have turned on because that is, it gives you more exposure.

[00:03:55] There are people that want to instant book, but on that platform it [00:04:00] also gives you the option to say, Okay, for Instant book, they have to meet these requirements. So for example, they have to have a verified identity. Mm-hmm. , which means. On the platform, they have uploaded a copy of their photo id. They have a verified email address and they have a, a phone number.

[00:04:21] Mm-hmm. . And then you can also, there's another, there's like little sliders you can slide on or off. That's one option. Another option is do they have recommendations from other hosts? In other words, have they gotten positive reviews? Rec, In other words, they've stayed with someone else who said yes, they were a good.

[00:04:39] Right. So that's a slider you can turn on. And then the third one, the reason I mentioned it was there's a third slider you can turn on that says well, it basically turns on a text box where you can ask them a question that they have to answer when they book. And ours typically is what's the reason for your stay.

[00:04:54] Yeah. Please tell us about your stay. Yes. And, and there's a nice way to say that. You may say so that we can best prepare for your arrival, please let us know the. Reason for your staff. That's a good way to say it. Right? And that what that does, other than why are you coming, right? , Are you gonna have a party?

[00:05:11] Right? Yeah. And a lot of people say no parties, and that's just, that's such a turnoff. It is. Yeah. It can be. Yeah. So, I mean, that should be something that's in your house rules, but, Well, we were gonna talk about that next, but Yeah. Gradually to get there. Okay, so it, we're talking now about screening and that first message, and that's how you can prompt that first message.

[00:05:33] So that first interaction with what's the reason for your stay. If they say, Coming for my birthday, that might be a hint, right? Or if they say, coming for an event with, or you know, family reunion with my family. Now you might want to ask some questions, right? Are you planning on having it our place or you, Now I've got questions, , right?

[00:05:52] So it's that initial interaction that can kind of start that conversation and I think that's a really important part of screening. [00:06:00] And I, I would, I would say that some people who. Going to have a part. Those that are more likely to have a party in your, in your place tend to be a little bit younger.

[00:06:20] Sometimes. Yeah, sometimes. Yeah. So oftentimes, so I would, I don't know if there's really a way to prevent people, f young people from booking your place. Well, that's, Technically that's a function of your state law and maybe local law. Oh, okay. So there are actually you want to look that up to make sure you're actually in compliance because there are certain things that you can't just say, Hey, you gotta be 30.

[00:06:49] Right? Right. Or you gotta be 25. I know people do it, but you might wanna look and say, Hey, is that even something. Applicable in my area, right? Is that something that I can legally do even though I'm doing it right? And then yes, on the on the platforms themselves or wherever you advertise, you can say, must be ex, you know, 25 or 21 or whatever your threshold is that you can, can do, you can actually make that a requirement in the rules, but there's no way to enforce that really on the platform.

[00:07:25] And that's, that's the downside to relying on, like, say an Airbnb's ID verification. Yeah. They've done it, but they're not gonna share it with you, the host. No, they're not. That's that's the part that I don't like. Yeah. There's no way to really know. And even really, if you read their terms of service, it says, when possible we will Right.

[00:07:47] X, Y, and Z. Right, right. Sure, sure. So I do, you know, if it was possible that time. Right, right, right. And it becomes even. Harry when it's someone coming from a foreign country because now it's a, it's a passport. It's [00:08:00] not a, a driver's license with an address on it. You know, passports don't have addresses.

[00:08:04] Right. So it's, yeah, you can verify that to passport, but do you really know if that's that person's passport? Right. Right. And so there's, there's that kind of thing going on. And mostly I wanna say that it just, we don't have access to it as a host. Yeah, that's the problem. So you were asking about the age thing, like we don't really know.

[00:08:23] Yeah, we don't really know. We can say you can't book it and we will have people ask like that's one of those first questions that can raise your suspicion maybe. Yes. Or just you just fighty senses. You need to do a little more investigation. Right. Cause we've had that first message be simply, is age an.

[00:08:43] I'm like, well, if you have to ask, it probably is , right? That's a red flag right there. Right? So now I've got questions . Right? Right. So it's that that first interaction a lot of times will give you the thing even on age, but yet, But yet to say not everybody under 25. No, no, not at all. Gonna have a party.

[00:09:02] And not everybody over 25 isn't right? No. Cause we've had both. Right. No doubt. So it's something to it, It's something to think about, but it's not an absolute Right. It's a, you know, I just wanted to bring it up because Yeah, yeah. It, it's, it is a thing. Yeah. And people think that, Yeah. Like that's, that's a concern.

[00:09:20] Yeah, for sure. I wanna say especially for the well even initiated or like, a lot of times they just want to avoid that. Yeah. Cuz they're afraid of it. and there, I get why there, there are reasons to question that, but it's not a, I'm just saying, you know, you don't want to be discriminatory just because someone's 24 and not 25.

[00:09:42] Right, Right. That's what is that magical though? , right? right. Well, so that is, that's the very first step in, in. Verify screening. Guess you know what? Ask them what [00:10:00] is the reason for your stay, right? Mm-hmm. , and then, and then maybe turn on some of those controls, right? So they can't instant book it unless they meet right.

[00:10:07] Certain requirements. But you can't do that on vrbo. No. VRBO does not have that feature. No, it doesn't. Right? Right. So now you've got, you've added another platform. Now you've got a hole in your system. Yep. Cause you can't rely on that anymore. And you certainly can't when you go to booking.com. But let's, if when you move on to the next thing, the next process is now that you have asked them the reason for their stay, you can also put some things in place.

[00:10:38] For example, house rules. In place. Mm-hmm. . And just so that people know that events and parties are not allowed in your, in your space. Yeah. So you should have a, a robust set of house rules. And we always say they should be in the format of here's the rule, here's the, here's the penalty. If you violate the rule, Right?

[00:11:03] Meaning monitor. Or it could be, Hey, you gotta leave. Right? Right. So it's like smoke in the unit, $250 have a party. Immediate cancellation of reservation. Right. But no refund. With no refund. So, but that's kind of the format of house rules you want to have. And, and, and like you were saying in the spirit of you're in the hospitality.

[00:11:28] Don't lead with the house rules and say, Hey, please go read all these rules, right? And here's this long list of things like you want 'em there, but you don't want to be aggressive about it necessarily. Yeah. It's a turn off. So it's always like, firm, this is our policy, it's business, but we are in the hospitality business, so don't go overboard.

[00:11:48] and start scaring people away. Cause I see people go way too far the other direction too. Oh, totally. Right. And you, They wonder why they have a problem. Yeah. They're like, Why am I, why are people irritated with me? Why I wonder Because you, [00:12:00] you're aggressive, Right. And you come out accusatory, right. Is the word.

[00:12:04] Yes. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. And most people are, are, don't have mal intentions. No. They don. And most people are really great guests. You just wanna have. Those processes in place that for the few that do, but don't let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch. Mm-hmm. . But having that, the, having that in the house rules that says there's no parties, and if you do have a party, then you, you're gonna, your reservation will be canceled with no refund.

[00:12:42] Yeah. In your household. Let's talk about that a little bit because it's, I, We don't just say, Don't have a party or this. Because the, If you have a rule like that, they'll just say, Well, it's not a party, we just have people over. Right. You gotta be real definitive of what exactly a party is. Right. So we don't actually say no parties.

[00:13:01] Yeah. We say maximum occupancy at all times is. Such and such, whatever the max occupancy is. So if it's a place that holds six people, there should never be more than six people there. Correct. You shouldn't have more people at the place than it's on your reservation. Correct? Right. Anybody that stays after 10 o'clock is considered an overnight guest, and here's the penalty for unauthorized overnight guest.

[00:13:24] That's a really good point, right? Like, that's really specific because you, what you don't want to get into is, Oh, they're not staying here, they're just hanging. Because then it becomes this ne nuance thing of, well, are they violating your rule or not? And you're kind of arguing back and forth. Right. And to me, somebody that stays till three in the morning was overnight.

[00:13:45] Sure. Whether they slept or not. Sure. Right. So that's why we have that cutoff. Sure. So we say, Okay, here's the maximum of people that can be there. Here's the cutoff time for when you become an overnight guest. Here's the penalty for overnight. If you, if they're undisclosed [00:14:00] and hey, you know, don't show up with more people in your reservation than you're supposed to have.

[00:14:05] And by the, And you can even go as far as say, Hey, if you're going to have a guest, that's fine, but let us know who and when and where. And it's all in how you phrase it, because that's a security issue. Like if you said you had two people on your reservation and all of a sudden I see like other three other people coming.

[00:14:25] I'm genuinely concerned for your safety. Like, do you know these people are here? Right? Like, are, are they getting into your stuff? Or you know, did you leave the door locked or something? Like, I need to inquire. But that's not accusatory. It's more Hey, we noticed this. What's going on? Are you aware? Right?

[00:14:44] And then here's the set of house rules. So that's how you can use those things in combination. prevent and head off any of, Well, we're really talking about the, about the worst thing that can happen as far as general things, you know, other than somebody dying or something like that. Right. But somebody coming to your house, having a big party and trashing it basically.

[00:15:05] And disturbing the neighbors and possibly getting you kicked out and Yeah. You know, all these things that you see that happen. Sure. Well, okay, so but that's before arrival, right? Right. So, so now we've got it so that we've asked them the reason for their stay. We've posted it in the, in the house rules.

[00:15:24] Mm-hmm. , here's the max occupancy. There's no more than X number of people that can be in the unit at any one time. If anyone stays after, you know, 10:00 PM for example, they're considered a guest. Here's the fee for undisclosed guests. Mm-hmm. , and here's what's gonna happen, right? Mm-hmm. . So we've got penalties in the, in the house rules.

[00:15:46] So let's say someone violated those house rules and they, and it's, it's midnight [00:16:00] and there are. Lots of people in the unit. There's, let's say there's twice as many people in the unit. How do you know that there are that many people? And what kind of system do you have in place that lets, that notifies you of?

[00:16:19] That's what's. Got it. So it, it shouldn't get to that place is the actual answer because there's a step in between that. Oh, what is it? So it's not just, we screen people and then they come and we don't know it. It is been implied that, Oh, we know who's coming in and out. And we do that through our, our door camera system.

[00:16:40] And if you have any other entrance to the property, like some of our properties are houses, you want some sort of vi video surveillance on any. . Cause what people will do is they'll just go around the back. Right. And you wanna see, so you gotta have video surveillance on all the entrances. Yes. And so part of our pro check in process is when somebody comes, we verify.

[00:17:01] Did they show up with the number of guests that were on the reservation? You know, so if it was booked by you know, a lady and her two kids and like five dudes show up with a keg, Right. That might be questioned. Calls for concern, which has happened to us. Yes, I mentioned that specifically because it happened in that, in their case, I think it was a giant bag of weed, but Okay, whatever.

[00:17:23] Yeah. Like, you know, you show up with a beer pong table, like now we know your intent. Right. And bef, and now I don't have to wait until midnight Sure. When there's 25 people there, because now I can intervene at the moment of discovery. Right. Because, Because we have someone watching the cameras that verifies their ID and has their reservation.

[00:17:50] They know who's supposed to be coming, what that person should look like and has. A And did the number of people check [00:18:00] in that said they were gonna be checking in and does that look like that person on that id? Yeah. And does, does their behavior match what they said they were coming for? Right. Right. So there's there, that's your second line of defense.

[00:18:14] It's your check-in process. It's your pro, and you alluded to, Hey, I've got processes that, hey, every day at this time we check this. Or every day there's a check in. We check as they check in, are they good? Right. And part of that's, you know, were they able to get in? Like I wanna know that too. Sure. But part of it is verifying who they are and you know, what are they bringing in and all this other kind of stuff.

[00:18:39] Right. So we've actually headed off those. That's probably why we haven't had a bunch of them. Yeah. Because when they show you kind of. When they show up, what's, what's about to go down? Right? And then later on, as you know, maybe even the right number of people check in, but then you, you know, more people show up.

[00:18:56] More people show up. Mm-hmm. , Well, that's the time to kill the party before it gets started. Sure. But to your point, point, there's somebody monitoring the cameras. Yes. That's the, So that's actually the next step. The system. Yeah. So the, the, the system is that you, well, first of all, you gotta have cameras. I mean, that's necessary.

[00:19:16] Yeah. And, and we go further than that and, And put the whole security system in there. Yeah, for sure. Because another indicator of that might be, well, how many times is the door opening and closing? Yep. We get notified of that as well. Right. If it's opening and closing and opening and closing, then that might be an indication something's going on, which can happen cuz people will come and they'll cover your.

[00:19:38] Oh, that's, And now you need a backup. Mm-hmm. , you need backups. Like, okay, well is the door opening and closing a lot? We can see that. Yeah. Or the windows opening, closing, we can see that. Yep. Right. And that's an indication that, well, first of all, they covered the camera and two, now the doors in or windows are opening.

[00:19:57] Okay. That's the, that's a sign. Right? Right. [00:20:00] And then this more alludes to what you were talking about, like, how do I know what's going. . Well, we also put inside the units we use a product called Noise Aware. There's another product that they're called Minute that's similar. We like Noise Aware better for various reasons, but what it does is it monitors the noise level inside of the unit, right?

[00:20:24] It doesn't monitor. It can't, It can't record what you say. Yeah. That would, You don't wanna do that. That's illegal . Yeah. Right. You don't wanna record inside the unit at all in any capacity. There's nothing inside the unit that records. It. Records, right. But it's recording. Loudness is decibel level. Decibel level is what It's recording, right?

[00:20:45] It, It's recording the decibel level inside the unit. Mm-hmm. . So you set it to a certain threshold. And it notifies you if it goes above that threshold. Yeah. And and they even have a sys automated system in there where if it crosses a threshold, it will actually contact your guest on your behalf. Oh, that is so cool.

[00:21:03] Yeah, we, we actually use that because we've got staff and we other people to do it, but it does have that feature, what I think, which I think is really cool. That's neat. Noise Aware does. Yeah. Yeah, it does. But it's another alert to say, Hey, there might be a problem. You know, it could be that it could not be a problem.

[00:21:22] Right. Maybe they're watching a loud movie or something. Right? Sure. But it, it alerts you to say, Okay, I need to investigate further what's going on here. Right, Right, right, right. And I'll, I'll point out also that it, it can also be in your defense. So say a neighbor says, Hey, this place is always really disruptive and loud, and it's not.

[00:21:42] Now you've got the actual evidence to say, Well here's the record of the noise level. Cuz it, it keeps that too, and to say, Well, you know, during this period of time there, it wasn't allowed Right. Or it was Right. It's very objective evidence, either in your favor or not, but it, it, the primary purpose is to alert you if there's a [00:22:00] problem.

[00:22:00] Right. So that's yet another line of defense. Sure. So now we've got the, the noise monitoring. Mm-hmm. inside the. We've got the, the doorbell cameras on all the entrances. Mm-hmm. , we've got the security system that will tell you when the door is opening and closing. And even the, if the windows are, are being opened and closed.

[00:22:24] Yeah. And if somebody smokes in there, the alarms and if somebody smokes in there. Yep, that's right. Yeah. Yeah. So we can, we can monitor that as well. And what's cool? The security system that we use is Vivid. Mm-hmm. . And what's cool the about Vivid is you can see all of that in one app. Yeah. So it's all one central location for all.

[00:22:46] And you can even see the thermostat. Yes. So you can see all sorts of things. You can see if there's movement inside the the property. So you can tell if it's vacant or not. Sure. Right. Just through that system without even having the cameras. So there's multiple backups to multiple backups. Right. That's kind of, you never wanna have.

[00:23:04] Single point of failure. Yes. And then, and then there's a third device you can use that it's called Party Stopper. We do not actually use this in our unit. Oh, okay. And we could. Okay. And what it does is it alerts you to how many devices are present. Mm. I've heard of that. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. That was really cool.

[00:23:22] So if all of a sudden you see like 30 cell phones in your apartment or something, you know, hey, something's up. So it can see what kind of device. Or how many devices are connected to the network? That's, that's the idea. Yeah. Mm-hmm. , That's really cool. Yeah. And it's called Party Stopper. Mm-hmm. . Ooh, that's cool.

[00:23:39] So it's, it's yet another backup to a backup. Right. So it's not that you use one system and not the other. It's like, Hey, use all of these mm-hmm. so that you know if one of them, you know, your internet goes down. Well, Noise Aware doesn't work anymore. Right, Sure. For example. But Viv still does because it has cellular backup, which is why we don't use Ring Doorbell cameras.

[00:23:59] [00:24:00] Oh. That is a nugget right there, because there's their single point of failure internet, right? And you cover the camera, you have nothing else, right? So it, it's those systems together that help you prevent and detect, because really you should be the first person to know it shouldn't be. Oh yeah, for sure.

[00:24:19] Hey, your neighbor calls you and says, Hey, this thing's going down. Or your landlord calls you and says, Hey, what's going on at Right. 2 46 Main Street. Main Street. Right. Like you should know before they know. Right. And if you're using those systems together and you're monitoring them, well see, I think that is really big monitoring.

[00:24:39] Yeah. You have to monitor. Yes. And if it's you right now, . Mm-hmm. , like you don't have a, a customer experience specialist. Then it's you and you should still have a process. Yes, you definitely should still have a process, but you have to follow your own process. Yeah. And that, and it's you at first, and we talked about that a lot.

[00:25:03] So do it. Build your system to say, And ours just in the beginning was every day at 1130. change the door, change door codes. But we're also checking all the systems. Yes. Are they all up and running? Yes. Right. Is everything as it should be. Yes. Review the footage from the previous 12 hours or 24 hours or whatever.

[00:25:22] Right. Say, was there anything going on that we need to address? And then once check out or that's check out. And then once check in happens, you do the same thing. You're monitoring the same thing. Mm-hmm. like, who's coming? Are they the right people? And then monitor everything else too, to say, Hey, is everything else good?

[00:25:38] Sure. Like, look at the thermostat. A well, I was thinking multiple units, but you're right. Yeah. Thermostat and everything else, right? Mm-hmm. like, are the batteries low or mm-hmm. in the front door lock or something like that. Right? Right. So you're, you're monitoring everything, but then that becomes the process that you document.

[00:25:56] Yeah. Then when you have someone else doing it, you've already [00:26:00] established, this is how we do it. And this is the importance of it because it prevents these types of things from happening. So a lot what we're talking about is not really how to deal with it so much, it's how to prevent it to deal, begin with.

[00:26:12] Mm-hmm. and you know, that screening and then the technology is a big piece of it. Yeah. And the monitoring. Yeah. That's, that's really big too. I think that's so, so now to now to your point. Now, so. So now let's say like despite all of that, despite all of that, now you've detected there is a problem, there is a party going on and this is happen and it can happen quickly.

[00:26:37] Oh yeah, for sure. So they can, they can check in, everything looks fine, and then all of a sudden cars start arriving. Yep. And people start getting out. Yep. Six at a time and all of a sudden your noise aware is going off and you see the doors open and closing and you check the cameras and Sure. Driveway in the yard's full of people and you're like, Well, how did, what, what's going on here?

[00:27:00] What, what do you do? What do you do? Right? So what's the procedure once that happens? Okay. And I wanna say some of that is procedural, and some of that is, again, relying on the technology that you've pre-planned. to set up. Right. Okay. You're putting me on the spot here cuz it's been a hot minute since I have reviewed this.

[00:27:18] So p well that's not true because you had to get rid of somebody. Well, that's true. Not for a party. That's true. It was, it was actually an overstay. She was, she didn't check out on time. So these ki times of procedures are basically like, how do I remove somebody from a unit? Yeah, right. In general. Right.

[00:27:32] But in this context, it's like we're using it. Context of the party. So the first thing that we do is we message them through the messaging system and, and say, Hey, we've noticed that there are more guests than stated on the reservation, or something like that. Or yeah, you're right. Our member of our security team has noticed that, has notified us that there's more guests than stating yes than stated on the reservation.

[00:27:57] Currently we see X. Yeah. Can you please [00:28:00] advise? Please advise. And then we give them, Five minutes to respond or something like that. Yeah, it's a short period of time. It's very short. It's very short. And if they don't respond within five minutes, I believe we call 'em on the phone. Well, it gets escalated to a text message.

[00:28:15] Okay. So we text them. Yeah. And then if they don't text within text back and within five minutes, then we call 'em on the phone. Then it gets escalated to a phone call. Uhhuh . Right. And if there's no response, And you still may not have a response. Right? Sure. Cuz they're having a party. They're busy. Yeah. or the people that rented it might not even be there anymore.

[00:28:35] That's exactly right. That that's happened. That's happened. Yeah. Yep. So if that happens, , then we do, we set off the, the alarm. Then what? He doesn't know their own processes. This is hilarious. I don't, I shouldn't have, I was giving you an opportunity. It's been so loud. It's been so long. But you're getting it right.

[00:28:57] So, yeah. So you're going to, basically, at that point it comes down to are they on platform or not? And if their own platform for example, like an Airbnb, I'm gonna contact them and oh, we gotta contact them first. And it's not for help, just saying No, no, no. It. Here's what's just about to go down. What I'm just about to do.

[00:29:14] Here's, I'm just letting you know what I'm gonna do. Yeah. . Cause they're not gonna do anything. But what I'm not asking permission. I'm telling you Yeah. They're, they're just gonna call 'em too. Sure. Yeah. I mean, and we've already done that thing. So, But, but to, here's something that we need to point out is you need to message them in through the messaging platform.

[00:29:39] So, You have documentation that you've done it. Yeah. Because when you call Airbnb, they're gonna say, Have you done that? And you say, Yes. Here's the evidence that I've done that. Right. It's in the messaging center. Yeah. So that's, that's kind of the, you know, it's, it's a nuance of communicating with the platform.

[00:29:57] But yes, they wanna see documentation and [00:30:00] evidence objectivity. Sure. And, and, . Okay, I am recording all this on my camera and I have my noise aware data, and I have my other stuff. Yeah, they're gonna wanna see that too. Here's actually what happened, right? Mm-hmm. , But, but to, to the point I'm calling them to inform them of what's happening and, and that I'm about to in this reservation.

[00:30:23] Because that, for this reason, because they've broken this house rule. Yeah. And they've got 25 people up in there having a party. And we clearly say no parties in our Yes. House rules. Right, Right. So it it's, I always find that interesting when, cuz people, you're, you tend to think, Hey, I'm gonna call them and they're gonna help me

[00:30:41] And they, they might right, they, they might make a phone call but depends, realize they're somebody in a cubicle farther away than you are probably. and they don't have the Airbnb police to send down there. Right, Right, right. So, I mean, they, they, they just can't. So they, they're there to notify and say, Hey, your guest that came through your platform, here's what we're about to do because of this.

[00:31:06] Right. And then you execute the next part of the plan, which is ultimately notifying them once again. If this doesn't end in the next 15 minutes and all these people aren't out, and I say 15 minutes specifically, cuz don't let this go on for an hour. Oh no, don't give people two hours to leave. Oh, no. Uhuh.

[00:31:29] Or an hour, it's, it's like 20 minutes, 15, 20 minutes max. Then the authorities are gonna come, and then because we have that security system in place, we can remotely set that alarm off just for a minute and then turn it. And letting them know that, hey, the sound you just heard, , if you're not out in 15 minutes will become constant and the authorities will arrive and you will be removed from the property.

[00:31:56] And to do that, you're going to want to stage [00:32:00] someone. Yes. This is critical. So it's either you or it's your representative within five minutes of that place. Yes. So that they can now meet the authorities if that becomes necessary at the property. Yes. Because that person that meets them there will need to have certain documentation.

[00:32:18] Yeah. And to be able to explain what's going on. So we've had to do this before. So the alarm goes off the, the police officers arrive within seven minutes because it's a verified alarm. So it's not like, Hey, I called the sheriff's department on the phone. No. They got a call from Viv saying, Hey, there's an active alarm at this property.

[00:32:40] They come within seven minutes and then, And that's why you wanna be staged close by. Yeah. You better have somebody there. Yeah. And. When the, the police come, you, you, you explain to them that this is a guest in your property. They are no longer welcome to stay. They are now trespassing on your property.

[00:32:59] Would they please help you? Right. Remove them. Right. And that, that's the key word. And that's trespassing. Yes. Because realized that the, Here's another thing people get tripped up on, is realize the police only deal in criminal. So have these people violated a law? Cause if you just say, Hey, they're renter's off of Airbnb.

[00:33:23] Right. And I don't want 'em here anymore. Oh, their, Their first thought is gonna be landlord. Tenant. Yep. Sorry. We can't do anything. You need to take them to court and get them evicted. Yep. Because we only deal with, That's a civil case. We only deal with criminal. Right, Right. Now, sometimes they will actually help you, like, they'll go in and say, you know, we can't make you leave.

[00:33:42] But we highly advise that you do. That's true. But, and, and that can be helpful too. It's, it's more of it feels like you're always educating in this business, but you kind of wanna be there to educate and say, Hey, here's, here's the, here's the thing. They're violating. They're not tenants. They never were tenants.[00:34:00]

[00:34:00] Here's our lease. They don't even have a key to the place. They have no lease. There's 25 people here having a party. This is my space. They guests, I've asked them to leave. They won't please help me. And that's gonna be your best chance for getting the authorities to actually assist you in ending this thing.

[00:34:22] Now the fact that the police even showed up is going to get people to leave. Oh yeah. For sure. Cause a lot of times they're, they don't want to be involved with that at all. Right, Right, right. Like at all. Right. And this probably isn't the first time they've been to a party and a police showed up.

[00:34:37] Right. . So they know you leave when the police show up. Right. And, and that that's the ultimate, But that's the, that's the nuclear option. I mean, once you go there yeah. You, you gotta be prepared for that. And the, and, and then it's a little more serious. And now you've, you, that's, that's your ultimate nuclear option.

[00:34:55] So we don't put, pull that button there a lot. No. Right. You usually don't have to get to that point, but it's nice to know that it's there if you need it. Yeah, yeah. Because you've got teeth. Yeah. Because you've got that system in place. And you've got a way to have the authorities, people that they, That's what you really want, people that they fear.

[00:35:18] The authorities, the people that are licensed to have the firearms . Yeah. Right. And put you in jail. Right. Right. That, that's who you, that's who you want on your side, not necessarily your local rent. Acop. Right. I've seen people do that, but do they really fear them? Not really. Cuz they know they can't do anything to 'em.

[00:35:34] Yeah. Right, right. Well, let's, let's say that you called the cops. The, the, they've been escorted out and now they've trashed the place and damaged something. Okay, let's, let's say they've, let's say they've done some, like somebody's punched a hole in the. Okay. Like it's, it's got it [00:36:00] got that far. Somebody punched a hole in the wall.

[00:36:03] Yeah. So it, it depends is the answer. So if there's, if there's a platform like on Airbnb there's air cover, but we all know how great that is. Right? Okay. If you've ever dealt with trying to get something covered, then that's just a pain in the butt. But it's. It's there. That's what it's for to a certain degree.

[00:36:22] But we also have on top of that our own insurance. We recommend proper dot insurer. Proper dot insurer. So if there is damage above whatever deductible is for that, ours is like a thousand dollars. But if it goes beyond a thousand dollars, then it becomes an insurance claim of property. Right. And they're going.

[00:36:43] start covering the damages in the, and the monetary stuff to fix it. Right. So it depends on how extensive it is. Mm-hmm. . But I will say our main goal is get it back up and running. Yeah. For sure. Right. So our main goal isn't sitter.

[00:36:57] Around and dick around with, Ooh, I shouldn't said dick around, but mess around with Airbnb and you know. Yeah. Get those claims processes started. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And document everything. Because remember, you have the documentation, you have the noise aware, you have the pictures of what it looked like before, don't you?

[00:37:14] Cuz your cleaners do that. Hope so. Yeah. And now you have the pictures of what it looks like now, and you have the communications you've had with the guest. You have the fact that, hey, the police showed. , Right? That's a police report. And you have all these things that now you can package and say, Here, here's what happened.

[00:37:32] We'd like this reservation canceled and our calendar opened back up so we can rerent these to someone else. Right? And now our job becomes, okay, call our cleaners and say, Hey, you gotta clean a job tomorrow. That's the main thing. Yep. Get this place up and running. Clean. Or the maintenance or maintenance hate.

[00:37:48] You've gotta hold a patch tomorrow on the wall. Yeah. , Hey, we've gotta order a new table and get that over there so we can get, because the idea is like get this thing back up and rented and ready to go again and turned over. Right? That's, [00:38:00] that's the main thing. And then secondary to that is recovering damages either from the guests themselves through the resolution process on Airbnb or through the insurance process on V R B O.

[00:38:12] Cause it's a different process over there or through your own insurance or you're planning on doing this if it's, We even take direct bookings. So if we had a direct booking, we charge their credit card that's on file. Yep. And we have an agreement with them that says we're gonna do that. Right. So we, we've done these steps in place to where we have teeth, we have the legality to do it.

[00:38:37] And hopefully you shut all this down in a, in a short period of time. , it wasn't really a problem for anybody else. And it could actually make you look good. Yeah, for sure. We had a, a student, a lady that we coach in Chicago mm-hmm. that recently had this happen and in her case it wasn't a party though, it was a Lady of the night.

[00:39:01] Oh, that's, that's right. That had set up shop in a lady of the night, set up shop, and from beginning to end, I think it took her. , Well, from, for, for her, her first suspicions that something might be going on to realizing that it was going on to getting this lady out was, I think she said like four hours.

[00:39:23] Mm-hmm. or something. Which is a long time actually. Yeah. But it's, it was only four hours of it. Right. You know, it wasn't overnight. And she found out the next day because somebody complained, but her, her, the, she's doing the rental arbitrage model and her landlord said, Hey, great job. Well, he just gave her another unit.

[00:39:41] Yeah. Just gave her another unit because she proved that yes, she could handle herself. She could handle it. Mm-hmm. . address any problems. Not that problems aren't going to happen, that, but that she has the systems and processes and wherewithal to address them. Yeah. [00:40:00] And handle them in a systematic manner.

[00:40:02] Yeah. And I say systematic because that becomes more and more important as you scale. Boy, not the truth, right? Cuz now you've got 15, 20 of these things and what are your procedures and what are your people going to do? So it's not a, oh my God, they're having a party. What do we. , it's, it's, here's our, here's our escalation process, here's our procedures.

[00:40:23] We very calmly know what we're going to do and hope we don't have to get to the end of it. And normally you don't, normally you never get to the place where the cops actually come. That's true. But if they do, you can get there. Yeah. Right. And knowing that you can get there makes the rest of this very calm.

[00:40:40] Cuz it's like a, if you don't, this is what's gonna happen. Yep. Right. So I that. The process, the procedure, that's how you prevent it. Recovering from it is get the unit back up immediately file any claims with whoever you're gonna file them with and move on with your day. Right. And get more units.

[00:41:00] Yep. Get more units and, and know that Okay. To the next I've done the one out of 200 people that do that. Right, right. In fact, I think we've, we've had to remove people well, that way. Twice ever. I wanna say that's true. Out of hundreds of reservations. I can't think of, I can't think of any other, but, But a big piece of that is because of the screening.

[00:41:25] Yeah, yeah. Because the screening, so that it never gets there. So we're always like prevention first, screening first checking when people check in, having your devices in place, having your escalation method for communication, and then ultimately having your process for. And you put all those things together and all of a sudden you don't really, Parties are an annoyance.

[00:41:48] It's really an annoyance. Yeah. Anymore than it is a Hey, am I scared of it? Right. You know, it becomes a. instead of, I hope they don't. It's a They better not. Yeah. . [00:42:00] I wish somebody would. Right, right. I wish somebody would have a party. Who is that? That was Cedric the entertainment. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember that.

[00:42:08] Yeah. I don't wish, I don't wish, I don't know. It's, I don't hope I don't. I wish. I hope they don't do that. It's like I wish they would. That's right. Right. . I wish somebody would, I hope nobody has a party in my unit, , which somebody, I wish somebody would have a party in my unit. Right, right, right. That's funny.

[00:42:29] Yeah, so that's it. That I think that's. Let's, Well, did you have anything to add to that? I think we covered it pretty much. I don't think anything else cuz it was, That's really great. So we hope that you found some value cuz we dropped some major nuggets in this podcast. So be sure to like and subscribe because we have.

[00:42:48] So many nuggets to drop in future episodes. So come back and see us again and we will drop some really great nuggets in the next couple of episodes. Oh, we've got some really great ones coming up cuz we have guest speakers coming to, Ooh, guest speaker, guests coming to talk to us. So I like it.

[00:43:08] Thanks for joining us and we will see you next time. Onto the next, onto the next. Nicely done.

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