Santa Cruz is a vacation destination with a lot of visitors, and what’s hip and trendy right now in the travel business is Airbnb, where people rent out their homes as an alternative to hotels. Many property owners have concerns that their tenants might be renting out their property in Airbnb and sites like it. If you don’t want your tenant renting out rooms in your home, there are a few things to consider:
First, make sure you have a rental agreement that addresses this. If you don’t have it already written into your rental agreement, you can include an addendum that states the tenants cannot sublet or conduct business out of the home. Renting out rooms on a short term basis would certainly be considered a business. You also want your rental agreement to clarify that the property is intended for the sole occupancy of the tenant.
Another good thing to add to your agreement is a limit for guest stays. You can say that guests can’t stay more than a certain number of days. In our rental agreements at Portola, we say that guests cannot stay for more than five days in a 12 month period without being considered an occupant who needs to be added onto the rental agreement.
Talk about this topic with your tenants up front so they know how you will handle this situation and what fines and penalties might be in place if they violate the rental agreement on this matter.
If you have additional questions about how to handle situations like this, please contact us at Portola Property Management, and we’d be happy to help.
