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Please write in to the Helpdesk with specifics, so we can investigate.
Hello!
I recently added a new property to OR and on my website I selected:
Rates: Show range for min and max (eg. "350-499/night")
This works for all of my properties but the new one...any idea why?
Thank you for your help,
Yes, this has indeed changed, but, you can still edit the Hosted Website footer settings. Here's how to do that:
https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/hosted-websites-footer-customizations-video
Hi - I have had my last two inbound inquiries from VRBO come in without any contact info from the potential guest. So when I make the quote to send back to the guest, owenerrez wont let me send the quote. This is because in the "Send Quote" section, it requires the email of the guest.
Is this a gap with the integration between VRBO / Ownerrez? I really need to solve this ASAP in order to get this quote out so this guest can book! Any help is appreciated!!
-Matt
Has this changed? I noticed the last response was 2018, and I cannot find the footer settings. I need to make contact changes down there.
I don't myself interpret this law as speaking to security deposits in any way, but no doubt that will be determined over the coming months by the appropriate legal authorities.
How would this law affect security deposits? This technically is not a charge - but there is not functionality to roll it into the nightly price. It would be against Airbnb terms of service. However it would be important to be able to continue to charge a security deposit. I find that guests are much better at following the rules with a deposit it place.
This is not a phishing message, it is legitimately from Vrbo - we got it also, as well as other partner-level communication.
We are not lawyers and have no competency to express legal opinions other than from the perspective of a layman.
Generally, in order to be regulated by a government entity, a person or business has to have presence (nexus) within the jurisdiction of that entity. So, if you live in Florida and own property in Florida, and someone from California places a booking, that would not put you under the authority of California regulators because you have no business existence there.
Obviously, Vrbo does have offices in California, so must obey California regulations. But that wouldn't apply to your own Florida-based direct-book website.
As we read it, there are two halves to the regulation:
1. You must allow free cancellation within 24 hours. Although OwnerRez custom cancellation policies (which match and map to Vrbo's) don't support this option at present, OwnerRez itself doesn't enforce any cancellation policies itself - it simply displays them to you and the guest. When a cancellation occurs, you manually enforce the policy as you see fit, which also means you can be more generous, including by permitting a free full cancellation within 24 hours even if the cancellation policy doesn't technically allow it. If your property is in California, this would be wise, as it seems like that would be compliant with the regulation. If you have no California nexus, we'd view that as up to you. Note that, as we read the regulation, it doesn't require you to state that as your policy, simply that you do it.
2. Regarding the cleaning charge, the simplest immediate solution is just to not have one, and to adjust your nightly rates accordingly. There are other things you can do to roll surcharges into rent displays, but it is unknown whether they are technically compliant with the regulation, which is very new and no doubt will be subject to considerable litigation.
It is possible that Vrbo will add additional features to their custom cancellation policy system, in which case OwnerRez will promptly implement them as well. No announcement or ETA has been made at this time concerning this.
Last Friday I received the following notification from Vrbo:
We are writing to inform you that effective July 1, 2024, California Assembly Bill 537 will prohibit advertising, displaying or offering a rate that does not include all fees or charges required to stay at a short-term lodging (except taxes and fees imposed by a government on the stay). For example, cleaning fees will now need to be included in the nightly rate shown to travelers.
... This information is based on Vrbo’s current understanding of applicable laws and should not be relied on by partners. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with this new California law and seek legal counsel for further guidance.
I was wondering if Owner Rez, or any other users, have any input on this subject. Does it only relate to properties and/or property owners located in California? Or is it to pander to every CA resident who may be interested in booking a property anywhere in the world?
It's also possible that this is a phishing email. I didn't click on the link.
Any insight would be helpful. And if this is legitimate, and Vrbo's interpretation is correct, what are some possible solutions?
Thank you!
Here's how to keep the security deposit hold:
https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/security-deposit-holds#charging
This does not require any interaction with Airbnb at all.
However, it sounds like your situation is a bit more complicated, in that, even if you keep the entire security deposit amount, the cost of the damage still would not be covered.
Therefore, you have a couple of options, that you'll need to make a risk-based decision on.
1. You could file a claim with Airbnb, and not keep the security deposit. This has the potential of full coverage of the damages, but, the risk that you'll get nothing at all.
2. You could file a claim with Airbnb, and also keep the security deposit. If Airbnb rejects the claim, you still have the security deposit funds. If Airbnb accepts the claim, you could refund the excess to the guest. However, this may confuse matters, and could result in both the Airbnb claim being denied and the security deposit getting hit with a chargeback.
3. You could reach out to the guest to discuss and negotiate. However, this depends on the honesty of the guest.
4. You could keep the full amount of the security deposit, then immediately open another security deposit, and keep whatever amount is necessary from that one to cover the full cost of the damage. However, doing this twice increases the likelihood that the guest will file chargebacks, and likely get all their money back.
Note that security deposit holds do not last forever - they automatically expire, and, while OwnerRez will attempt to renew them, by that time the guest may have put a block on the card to prevent this.
So we had our first damages since converting to API connection with OR. It's an Airbnb reservation and the guest paid us the damage deposit directly via our Stripe account listed in our OR. I want to find out the process for retaining that damage deposit (it's less than the damages but better than nothing). Do we have to do something through Airbnb directly or can we simply notify the guests of the damage/amounts and retain the damage deposit without concern for Airbnb? Thank you.
Hey Tim,
Sounds like the Tax Detail Report would serve you better here than the Tax Summary Report:
https://app.ownerrez.com/reports/taxdetail
You can include bookings with no tax charges on the Tax Detail report, which would pull in those Airbnb bookings for you on the same report. Setting the report to group by listing site would be preferred:
If you have any further questions, feel free to write in to the helpdesk at help@ownerrez.com so we can take a closer look for you!
What error message are you getting? Usually this is pretty straightforward - here's how to do it:
https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/add-new-property#new-listing-vrbo
It just takes some time for Vrbo to fully load the new property, even a couple days, that's all.
I am vrbo integrated with OwnerRez for my first property, now I have one more property, and I want to add it to VRBO, since I am already integrated, it is not letting me add it on vrbo , is there anyway I can export my listing from OwnerRez to vrbo? And it not, what can I do about that?
Thanks
I don't myself, but we have a great many clients set up that way, and I've never heard of an additional fee. Of course, fee structures can change at any time, so check the fine print.
Yes, this is indeed on the radar, but it's a massive amount of work that is ongoing, and additional permissioning features will be evolutionary over time.
I ended up going with Stripe.
For anyone using Elavon, does the Converge payment gateway have an additional monthly fee on top of the Elavon transaction fees?
The short answer is - they really don't. You have to connect with the main channel account, not using a co-hosted account.
And OwnerRez itself does not support cohosting, per se - you can share your credentials with anyone you please, or, if you're using our Property Management premium feature, you can create a Portal Access account with Admin privileges, but in both cases the other person will have full access to everything, not just specific properties.
Hi Ken,
Is this something that is on the radar at all? I've seen posts requesting being able to give more access to property owners going back to 2019. I may have an isolated example, but I took over managing a property that my parents own recently and my dad would love to be able to see guest's communications and interact with them directly. I know I can give him admin access to my account to enable that but the all-or-nothing option isn't ideal.
Setting up my account. With only 1 property I can't figure out which payment method is cost effective. The ones with no monthly fee don't have great reviews. Seeking recommendations.
Tobias, did you ever figure out the workaround for this? I have the exact same situation and can't figure out how to best do this.
Generally, by default, yes, but your specific configuration may vary. If you have a specific example of concern, please send that in to the Helpdesk and we'll take a look.
When i add damage protection offered by OR, and make it separate "Management fee" , is this a taxable item?
Please write in to the Helpdesk with specifics, and we'll check it out.
Thanks
so if the booking is confirmed, why didn’t OwnerRez send the confirmed booking message
I also check my out box, night was emailed to guest
Vrbo will not cancel the booking - in fact it cannot. With API bookings, they can only be canceled inside OwnerRez, by you.
And, Vrbo is a bit inconsistent in their handling - even though the display shows as Pending, normally Vrbo will still send a booking confirmation to the guest.
You likely also have your own messages that will be automatically sent to the guest via email, which serve as additional confirmation.
And what happens after the 24 hours lapses, would VRBO cancel the booking? I am so confused
So how would the guest get confirmation though?
if it still tells on the VRBO app that it is pending?
Thanks
just got a booking request on VRBO, after I got it API integrated
now the VRBO app is not letting me accept the booking
Yes, this is normal - when you are using the Vrbo API, once Vrbo has tossed the booking over to OwnerRez, Vrbo basically stops caring about it and updating its status. If the status shows correctly in OwnerRez, that is the final authority.
If you'd like to write in to the Helpdesk with the ORB booking number, we'd be glad to confirm this for you.
just got a booking request on VRBO, after I got it API integrated
now the VRBO app is not letting me accept the booking
I ran the payment through OwnerRez and it it showing we have a booking for those dates under the guest’s name, however in VRBO it is still showing pending approval, can someone help?
