What to do if your Airbnb Listing is Suspended

As an Airbnb Host, one of the worst things to occur is a suspension of your listing. While this is extremely rare, a suspension may occur at any time - often without warning - and the reasons behind this might be difficult to understand. In most cases, a suspension will occur if there are recurring issues that guests escalate to Airbnb. However, it can sometimes also occur if certain Airbnb rules are broken, which you may have missed since they are in fine print.

Because a suspension can occur at any time, it is important to be aware of this possibility so that you can avoid this happening to you. 

Why might a suspension or ban occur?

Airbnb has a system where they randomly review host accounts. Under this review, they may look into factors such as whether your listing is a certain quality, the ratings, host response time or if hosts accept too few reservations or make too many cancellations. Following the suspension, Airbnb will alert you as to why the temporary suspension has occurred and then they will monitor your account to see if you have improved. If you have not improved on these areas then Airbnb may consider a permanent host ban.

Main Reasons for Getting Banned

The reason Airbnb monitors host accounts is to ensure that guests are receiving quality experiences. Therefore a suspension or ban may occur because:

• You have had multiple suspensions or escalated issues
• You are in the bottom 1% of Airbnb listings ratings
• You have repeatedly broken Airbnbs Terms of Service rules

If you do find yourself on the receiving end of a ban, you will still be able to host guests that are set to arrive within that week. For any guests set to arrive later than a week, the reservation will be canceled and Airbnb will find an alternative property for those guests.

These reasons seem pretty straightforward, however some bans take hosts by surprise. If you do think the ban is unreasonable, you may choose to appeal the decision but changing Airbnbs decision is often difficult. 

What to do if you have been banned?

If you have been banned or suspended as a host from Airbnb. The first thing you should do is submit a formal complaint and review form. Then, even if they reject your appeal or it takes an extended period, there are other ways to keep your property’s income rolling. Airbnb is only one of several vacation rental platforms, so this could be an opportunity to promote your listing elsewhere. Booking.com, Home Away, VRBO and Expedia are just a few of these sites you can promote your property on. 

If your account has been suspended for the first time, act immediately to get those ratings and reservations up. If your host account is banned going forward, you may wish to ask Airbnb if this is in fact a mistake. If not, then look for other platforms to share your property on because there are plethora of websites just waiting for you to upload some photos, your nightly rate and a short description.