how do you increase the security deposit for one guest?

[Steve3]

I have a guest with a service dog and want to know how you increase the security deposit for the one reservation?

[Dave-and-Deb0]

Hi @Steve3,

I believe you could be discriminating against someone with a disability if you raise the security deposit because of their service dog.  Here is an article about service animals and landlords (I know you are not really a landlord though).

I don't think you could increase the security deposit once someone has made an inquiry.  If you worked something out with the prospective guest, you could decline him/her, change your security deposit, have them inquire again, and then change it back to your original SD.

Also, if you already agreed, you may be able to contact CX and see if they could manually change the SD for the one booking.

Cheers

Dave

[Clare0]

Do you think you need to? If the dog is a certified, and I stress, certified, service dog, you might not need to. Have you asked the guest for the dog's certification?  I doubt you can increase the security deposit for one guest.  Does the guest have any reviews where they have taken the dog?  If so, perhaps you can contact the host(s) to see what their experience with the dog was like. Sticky situation...but I'd start with the certification first and if you feel there might be damage, just decline.  What is your policy on pets?

[Nancy-E0]

There is no such thing as certification for a service dog. There are different training organizations that may certify internally but there is no national or state certification. It is illegal under federal law (ADA-Americans with Disabilities Act) to charge extra for a service animal or ask for certification. You might want to read the ADA business brief here:  https://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm

[Dave-and-Deb0]

That's really weird.  I responded to this earlier and my comments aren't here but I am getting notifications.  Maybe mine were flagged as inappropriate?

[Clare0]

@Dave-and-Deb0 Nah, I'm sure it was a technical glitch which is a shame since your answer was probably better than mine.  You should re-post it!

[Dave-and-Deb0]

I think you need to be careful that you are not discriminating against this guest do to a disability.  You might glean some information from this article however it has to do with landlords and not sure it translates to short term rentals.  My other reponse had some other points but I am too tired to recreate my original response.  If the guest agrees to a higher security deposit (which I would not), you could probably call Airbnb and have them increase it for this guest.  The only way I could see yourself doing this is declining his request, changing the security deposit, then have him re-inquire.  When he books, you change your SD back to your orignal amount.

Cheers

Dave