How to Politely Decline a Vacation Rental Booking After Guest Screening

For property managers, every new renter can feel like a risk. It’s impossible to know for sure if they will follow the house rules you’ve determined, respect the neighbors, and leave your rental in the same condition they found it in. However, guest screening services can give property owners some peace of mind by providing baseline background information about the individual. 

With Safely, guest screening is made easy through our automated platform. We can verify guest identity and check various national databases to make sure your potential renter is who they say they are. 

There may come a time as a property manager when you’ll want to decline a request for booking, whether it’s due to the findings of a screening or other factors. While declining requests can feel awkward, following your instincts could protect you from serious property damage or even legal trouble. 

Here are a few signs of potential problem renters to look out for as well as some tips to decline their request respectfully. 

Signs That You Should Decline

As a property manager who makes a living from vacation rentals, you probably try to avoid declining renters unless you really need to. However, if you notice the following traits in a potential renter, it may be smarter to decline them than to take a risk. 

An Unfavorable Guest Screening

If your guest screening raises any red flags regarding poor rental history, criminal history, or connection with any national or international watchlists, you should consider declining the booking. 

Your main priority as property manager is to protect your property from damage, and part of this responsibility is to prevent illegal activity to the best of your ability. Additionally, if a potential renter has caused damage to vacation rentals in the past, the odds that they will do the same thing again are not worth betting on by approving their request. 

Strange or Suspicious Communication

Are you curious about how to decline vacation rental booking requests that aren’t immediately flagged by a guest screening? In some instances, a potential renter may pass an initial screening without any major red flags but still raise suspicion during the initial communication process. 

If an inquiring renter speaks in a way that feels automated, gives responses that don’t make sense, or sends messages with crude language or a disrespectful tone, you are fully within your rights to decline their request. While you should still be as polite and respectful as possible while declining them, you don’t have to feel pressured to accept them purely based on the results of their guest screening. 

How to Decline Vacation Rental Booking Politely

Knowing how to decline vacation rental booking requests in a kind way is key for property managers. If inquiring renters are put off by your response or find it to be derogatory or discriminatory, they could attempt to take legal action against you or at least damage your reputation on your rental platform of choice. 

Regardless of your experience with a potential renter, you should always make your best effort to be gracious when declining rental requests. At Safely, we aim to equip property managers with all the tools they need to be successful, and that includes how to decline vacation rental booking inquiries in a kind, respectful manner.  

Lead With Kindness

You can never be too kind or polite when declining a booking for your rental property. Regardless of how much detail you give your inquirer about why you’ve chosen to decline their request, a respectful tone and polite language should always be a priority. 

While you could always decline without sending a message, your potential renter will appreciate you taking the time to provide a response. Remember to also thank them for their inquiry within your message. 

Know When to Be Honest

There are several possible reasons why you might choose to decline a vacation rental booking. In some cases, the issue may be as simple as a scheduling conflict. In others, you may be declining an applicant based on information you received during the guest screening process. 

Use your best judgment about whether to be fully honest with your applicants about why their request was denied. As you’re figuring out how to decline rental request applications, it may be easiest to simply tell the applicant that the rental is unavailable rather than going into detail.  

Offer Helpful Suggestions or Alternatives

Perhaps you are denying a request based on the potential renter’s intentions for the space. For example, you may not want to rent to an individual who is looking for a place to host a large event. 

You are well within your rights to decline a renter who wants to use your property for a different purpose than intended. However, there may be other listings on your platform that are perfect for their needs. Do your best to provide alternative suggestions or ideas within your message instead of simply declining without explanation. 

Refer Back to Your Description

In some cases, potential renters will make a request to a property manager that goes against a house rule specifically stated in the description of the rental. As respectfully as possible, refer the inquirer back to your listing description. Ideally, this will inspire them to be more thorough when reading rental listing descriptions in the future. 

Protect Yourself With Short-Term Rental Insurance From Safely

Managing a vacation home can be a lucrative and fulfilling career path, but the liability involved can put you in some sticky situations. While many of your renters will be kind and easy to work with, it’s important to prepare for the renters who aren’t. 

Do you have the expertise and resources necessary to properly screen your renters? Protect your property and your legal responsibility with a customized short-term rental insurance policy and renter screening services from Safely. This way, you can focus on managing properties without fixating on what could go wrong. 

Contact us at Safely today to start crafting your insurance plan.