Can someone squat in a STR?

[John Carbone]

Has anyone had someone refuse to leave after their stay and or attempt to live in the STR indefinitely?

[Dustin Allen]

@John Carbone

Yes, someone refused to leave an STR in our market for the better part of a year. They were trying to sell it and the squatter killed two deals I believe by not allowing entry. This was in California of course, not sure that would work in every market.

[Mike Shemp]

I think it will depend on which state you live in and the length of stay the guest booked.  My understanding is that STRs fall under hospitatlity/hotel laws, and not landlord laws, depending on the guests length of stay.  For example know some states consider the guest a tenant once they stay over 29 days.  You would need to research your state and local laws for the market you are interested in to confirm though how they view short-term rental guests.

We personally don't accept any bookings over 29 days, and also have strong language in our rental agreement that every guests signs on how they can be evicted during their stay.

Hope that helps.

Mike

[John Underwood]

Someone could squat in any property.  I have not had this problem. I have hefty rates so I have a higher end clientele. 

[John Carbone]

Originally posted by @John Underwood:

Someone could squat in any property.  I have not had this problem. I have hefty rates so I have a higher end clientele. 

I don’t see how having higher rates makes a difference. If anything, it could make it more of a target. Paying 1k for a few days during off peak and then they could take a shot at charging back afterwords. Or a group of homeless people could panhandle money buy an Airbnb gift card at Walmart and have a squat of their lifetime after paying a few days. 

I thought one of the key things with squatting was after so many days the “squatter” has rights. Whereas with under a few days you could just call the police and arrest them for trespassing. 
 

[Bruce Woodruff]

This is from a legal site - the key is to not allow any stays longer than 28-29 days. We have that stated on our sites, but occasionally get requests anyway for multi-month stays....we turn those down flat. Don't want the risk, even though we have higher-end guests too. Ya never know....

"If an Airbnb tenant has overstayed their vacation the owner can have them removed without going to the court. If the tenant is under 28 days on the property, the landlord should contact Airbnb immediately for assistance. If that does not help then the guest is treated like a transient, not a tenant, and can be evicted as such in accordance with local laws (usually involves calling the police to assist in watching them leave)."

[John Underwood]

People Paying higher rates are typically families or more educated.

I don't see a conspiracy of homeless people chipping in rent my house on a lake that is an hour away from any homeless population. 

It is around the 30 day mark where you have to start worring about squatters and evictions for someone overstaying their welcome.

[Joe Splitrock]

As @John Underwood said, someone can squat in any property. The only difference in a short term rental versus long term rental may be the laws governing how you deal with it. I most states if the stay is less than a month, they are not considered a tenant, therefore do not have tenant rights. This means you may not need to evict, but rather could have them removed for trespassing. I would call the police if they remained past check out time. My property is registered as a short term rental in my city and I would have the reservation in my app to show police as proof they are guest, not a tenant. Where this gets muddy is if the guest is staying more than a month. We have anyone staying longer than a month go through credit/background check and sign a lease. In that situation we would evict them if they stayed in the property, but it is very unlikely since we are credit screening.

When we started out in our STR, we had a lower nightly rate as a way to fill vacancies and get reviews. Once we had good reviews and superhost status, we raised rates. I can absolutely say that higher rates gives you better clientele. I have never had a squatter. Keep in mind that booking requires a credit card with a limit to support the length of stay. AirBNB does not accept prepaid credit cards, which means guests need an actual credit card. There are secured credit cards for people with bad credit, but those generally have very low limits (my wife works at the countries largest sub prime credit card issuer). Of course a squatter could be someone with good credit, but it is very unlikely. The type of person who squats is generally financially irresponsible, so very unlikely to have a credit card with a higher limit. Minimum nights can also play into this, because it means a higher credit card reservation amount. It is fair to say that higher nightly rates makes it less likely you will have a squatter.

Charging back fraudulently will result in your card being closed. Credit card companies will investigate this through their fraud department. So if you are running scams like this, it will catch up with you quickly.

[John Carbone]

Thanks for the replies. It seems like as long as it is 28-29 days or less then it is fine, you just call the police for trespassing. 

[Bruce Woodruff]

Originally posted by @John Carbone:

Thanks for the replies. It seems like as long as it is 28-29 days or less then it is fine, you just call the police for trespassing. 

Yes. Just have a copy of the STR License available.

[Michael Baum]

It has happened in Seattle more than once. People are still in STR's for over a year. COVID eviction moratorium.