Keeping Deposit as Penalty for Lying about Occupancy

[Ryan230]

I have just accepted a very discounted offer on my 3000 sq. ft home in South Florida.  Utility costs kill us this time of year but the reason we agreed to do $1000 discount for our weekly rate is there are only 4 coming in the home instead of 8.  I have made this very well understood for the guests that we are discounting because there are 4 people, not 8.  Now, if they violate that...is their grounds to keep their security deposit?  We would rather not rent our home so cheaply than have a full house of people, so it seems that a clear violation (especially because they are flying here so there shouldn't be surprises or unknown guests) would allow us to be able to charge our full amount and they would lose that discount.  I was wondering other people's thoughts.

Thanks,

Ryan

[Kelly149]

@Ryan230 no, you would likely not get deposit out of abb for this, but if you can prove how many guests are there then you could perhaps receive your standard per day addtl guest rate. Do you have cameras or a caretaker or some other way of knowing who/how many are actually at your property?