Short-term rentals on high alert during holiday weekends to prevent large parties
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Turnkey El Paso, a short-term rental company, has implemented an “anti-party” system, like Airbnb, that operates all yearlong but especially during the holidays to help prevent abuse to properties.
Turnkey El Paso says they have similar rules to Airbnb where they won’t tolerate large parties and damage to properties under their business.
Amanda Middleton, property manager with Turnkey El Paso, said they always apply anti-party measurements to all reservations to discourage any abuse to their properties.
“That’s for obviously the protection of our owners and the courtesy of neighbors and different things like that. But we do things like we require your ID to be verified. We require additional rental agreements,” Middleton said.
Middleton said she has been in the business for quite some time and with experience she’s been able to pick up on certain “red flags” when it comes to rental properties.
“Like last-minute reservations or just certain questions that they’re asking, like if they’re security cameras or different things like that. So we get kind of the the feel of maybe if there’s something amiss for a reservation,” Middleton said.
She told KTSM during the holiday weekends is when they are on high alert to try and deter large gatherings.
Middleton says Turnkey El Paso has been blessed because thankfully no guests have broken house rules or thrown huge events.
“But reality is, is that we’ve had almost zero issues this year with parties whatsoever. And even when we do have an issue, it’s usually minor, such as somebody broke something because they had a small child or something along those lines, very, very rare,” Middleton said.
She also said a lot of thought and research goes into a tenant screening before accepting a booking.
“We’ve put things in place after trial and error for a lot of things, such as there are certain types of properties that are going to encourage up parties, such as homes with pools or with really large backyards or houses that sleep a lot of people,” Middleton said.
Middleton said she encourages property owners to use technology, like noise decibels meters, to keep track of a noise level to stop a party before it actually happens.
“We are booked 60% of the year in almost all of our properties. As a matter of fact, over the last year and including this year, we’ve had zero party incidences,” Middleton said.
Middleton told KTSM just like a hotel booking, during holidays rentals will be expensive. She also said if damages occur during a stay, she said with Turnkey El Paso, the guest already has purchase an “inside” insurance program.
“Meaning that if they break something on accident or something along those lines, they’re actually covered. So we’re not coming after them for a $50 vase that they may be broke on accident or something like that. And our owners are covered up to $1,500 dollars worth of damages,” she said.
To learn more about Turnkey El Paso, click here.
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