Handling Legal Agreements & Guest Deposits in Airbnb

Valerie F
Jan 8, 2024 10:25 PM
Joined Dec, 2023 2 posts

Hi, 

I just went live with API and received an airbnb booking. In our rules, we require a $500 deposit and a legal agreement. How do you handle both of these in Airbnb? There is no credit card on file for us to get the deposit since airbnb handles the $ and I see the legal agreement went out, but I haven't received it. 

Are there any best practices or suggestions for requesting the legal agreement or for getting the $500 deposit? It doesn't seem likely that they will want to do either since they have the confirmation from airbnb that they have a booking.

Thank you!

Valerie

Suzee S
Jan 15, 2024 5:09 PM
OR Team Member Joined Apr, 2023 2 posts

Hi Valerie!

You'll want to make sure you have added the expectation of signing a Renter Agreement and the security deposit (hold or refundable) in your House Rules in the Airbnb API. This is how your guests will be made aware of the expectation. If you have these in your House Rules section, Airbnb will also be able to back you up on these expectations.

Because Airbnb stopped sending guest email addresses as of September 1, you'll need to make sure you have a channel template and associated trigger to send to the guest through the Airbnb messaging system. This is how you will collect their contact information, credit card information, and signature for the Renter Agreement. We have a great support article that outlines the steps to create this channel template and trigger if you don't already have one.