What to Do When You've Had Your Airbnb Account Deactivated

Imagine this scenario. You’ve been hosting guests on Airbnb for several months, earning a steady income, and receiving positive feedback from your guests. Suddenly, you receive an email from Airbnb stating that your account has been deactivated due to a violation of the terms and conditions. 

While it can happen, it’s avoidable. Continue reading to find out why it happens and what to do if your account gets deactivated.

What’s Airbnb Account Deactivation?

Airbnb account deactivation refers to the termination of a host’s account by Airbnb due to a violation of the company’s terms and conditions or any other reasons deemed inappropriate by the platform. When your account is deactivated, you lose access to all your listings and reservation information, which can be a huge blow to your short-term rental business.

Reasons for Having Your Airbnb Deactivated

All Airbnb accounts must adhere to the platform’s community standards. If one of their account reviews finds that you’re guilty of any of the following, the platform has the right to limit, suspend, or delete your account altogether:

Violation of the Airbnb terms and conditions

If you have had your Airbnb deactivated due to a violation of Airbnb’s terms and conditions, you can review the terms of service to understand the reason for the deactivation. It could be that your supplemental rental agreement goes against their Ts and Cs or that you collected fees outside of their platform, for example.   

If you believe the deactivation was a mistake, you can contact Airbnb’s customer support team to appeal the decision. However, if you did violate the terms and conditions, identify which steps you can take to address the issue and prevent it from happening again.

Fraudulent activities

If your Airbnb account has been deactivated due to fraudulent activities, you’ll need to follow the same steps outlined above. First, review the platform’s rules to see if you can identify the reason for the action. Then, if you believe the deactivation was a mistake, you can contact Airbnb’s customer support team to receive assistance and appeal the decision.

Airbnb takes fraud very seriously and may not reinstate your account if the fraud is severe or repeated. To help your case, it’s important to take responsibility, stop all fraudulent activities immediately, and address the issue (which can include taking steps to remedy any harm caused). Depending on the severity of the fraud, you may also need to consult with a lawyer.

What can be considered fraudulent activity?

What would Airbnb Consider Fraudulent Activity?

Airbnb considers fraudulent activities to be any actions taken by hosts or guests that are intended to deceive, mislead, or manipulate the Airbnb platform or community. Some examples of fraudulent activities that may get your account permanently deactivated include:

• Providing false information: This can include providing false identification, misrepresenting the characteristics of the rental property, or providing inaccurate or misleading information about a guest.
• Payment fraud: This can include using stolen credit cards or manipulating the payment process to avoid paying fees.
• Misrepresenting a property: This can include listing a property that doesn’t exist, misrepresenting the condition or location of the property, or failing to disclose important information about the property.
• Violating Airbnb’s content policy: This can include posting inappropriate or misleading content, using fake reviews, or engaging in other activities that violate Airbnb’s community standards.
• Violating local laws: This can include renting out a property in violation of local zoning laws or failing to pay taxes on rental income.
• Misusing the platform: This can include attempting to book or cancel reservations outside of the Airbnb platform, harassing or threatening other users, or engaging in other activities that violate Airbnb’s terms of service.

Low-quality listings

If your Airbnb host account has been deactivated due to low-quality listings, it means that your listings did not meet Airbnb’s quality standards.

To reactivate your account, you should take steps to improve the quality of your listings. Here are some steps you can take:

• Review Airbnb’s hosting standards: Make sure you understand the quality standards that Airbnb expects of its hosts. This will help you identify areas where you need to improve.
• Revise your listings: Take a critical look at your listings and make changes to improve the quality. This can include improving the quality of your photos, writing detailed property descriptions, or making sure your property is clean and well-maintained.
• Get feedback: Ask friends or family members to review your listings and provide honest feedback. This can help you identify areas where you need to improve.
• Consider attending an Airbnb workshop or training: Airbnb offers a range of workshops and training programs via the Airbnb Academy to help hosts improve the quality of their listings. Consider attending one of these programs to learn new skills and best practices for hosting on Airbnb.

Unresponsive host behavior

If your Airbnb host account has been deactivated due to unresponsive host behavior, it means that you failed to respond to guest inquiries or messages in a timely manner.

The following steps can help you improve your response time and communication with guests: 

• Review Airbnb’s hosting standards: Make sure you understand the communication standards that Airbnb expects of its hosts. This will help you identify areas where you need to improve.
• Set up notifications: Make sure you have set up notifications so that you receive alerts when you receive messages or inquiries from guests.
• Respond promptly: Make a commitment to respond to all guest inquiries and messages within 24 hours. If you are unable to respond within this time frame, let the guest know when you will be able to respond.
• Be available: Make sure you are available to answer questions and resolve issues for your guests during their stay. Provide them with a reliable contact method (such as a phone number or email address) and respond promptly to any issues that arise.
• Consider using Airbnb tools: Airbnb offers tools such as message templates and saved messages that can help you respond to guests more efficiently. Consider using these tools to improve your response time and communication with guests.

Consequences of Airbnb Account Deactivation

When they deactivate your account, the impact is rarely just financial. In the unfortunate event that it happens to your Airbnb profile, you’ll need a strategy for the following challenges:

Loss of income

If Airbnb deactivates your account, it can result in a total loss of income if you don’t list on other sites too. When your account is deactivated, your listings are no longer visible in the search results, leaving you without the ability to accept new bookings. This can be particularly devastating if you rely on Airbnb income to pay bills or support yourself financially.

If you can demonstrate that your account was deactivated in error, and that you have not violated any of Airbnb’s standards or policies, Airbnb may reactivate your account and reimburse you for any lost income. However, if your account was deactivated due to fraudulent activities, you may not be able to recover your lost income.

Negative impact on the host’s reputation

Airbnb account deactivation can also have a negative impact on the host’s reputation. When they deactivate your account, it is usually due to a violation of Airbnb’s policies or standards, which means that you can expect negative reviews to follow too. Negative reviews can be particularly damaging because they are visible to future guests who are considering booking with you. 

The negative impact on a host’s standing can also extend beyond the Airbnb platform. If a host’s account is deleted due to serious violations, such as fraudulent activities or discrimination, it can damage their standing in their local community or even their professional network. This can have long-term consequences for the host, even beyond the financial impact of lost income from Airbnb hosting.

Difficulty Reactivating the Account

If your Airbnb account has been deactivated, you may face difficulties reactivating it. The process of reactivating a deactivated account can be lengthy and complex, especially if the deactivation was due to serious violations of Airbnb’s standards or policies.

The first step in the process is to contact Airbnb’s customer support team and request a review of your account. Depending on the reason for the deactivation, you may be required to provide additional documentation or information to support your case. This can include proof of identity, photos of the listing, or other evidence to demonstrate that you have not violated Airbnb’s standards and policies.

In some cases, Airbnb may require you to complete an online course or training program to demonstrate your understanding of Airbnb’s rules and commitment to providing a high-quality hosting experience for guests. This can be time-consuming and may require a significant investment of time.

Even if you are able to successfully re-activate your account, there may be lingering consequences, such as negative reviews from guests. It’s important to be transparent with guests about the reasons for the deactivation and the steps you have taken to address the issue and prevent it from happening in the future.

General Steps to Take After Your Airbnb Account Gets Deactivated

Airbnb is probably the last party you’ll want to contact, but you’ll need to work with their team to resolve the issue and discuss the possibility of restoring your account. Here’s how to keep the process professional:

Contact Airbnb support 

The first step after seeing that your account has been deactivated is to contact Airbnb’s support to find out why the account was deactivated and take appropriate action. Airbnb will generally provide an explanation for the deactivation, which can help you understand what went wrong and which steps need to be taken to resolve the issue.

You can also reach out to the Airbnb Community Support. Other hosts have very likely gone through the same trouble.

Provide evidence

If you believe that your account was wrongly deactivated, you can provide evidence to prove your case. This could include screenshots of messages or conversations with guests, photos of the property, or any other relevant information that can help prove you did not violate the Airbnb terms and conditions.

Appeal the deactivation decision 

The appeal process generally involves providing additional information and evidence to support your case. This includes:

• Your listing’s name
• The reservation codes for the stay during which a problem was reported
• The specific report you want to appeal
• Why you want to appeal the report
• Any relevant documents that you can use to support your case

The appeal process can take some time, but it is worth pursuing if you feel your Airbnb account was wrongly deactivated. After all, creating a new account will also take time. Plus, it will also mean the loss of data like your ratings,use to reviews, and history of hosting, which is not an ideal solution.

Tips to Avoid Getting Your Airbnb Account Deleted

It’s easier to prevent deactivation than what it is to get your account restored. As such, you’ll spend your resources wisely by prioritizing the following areas: 

Read the relevant documentation

Considering that your livelihood is on the line, take the time to read Airbnb’s policies and standards. Then, also ensure you’re aware of any local laws and regulations that may apply to your listing.

Provide accurate information about your listing 

It can be tempting to tweak the descriptions of similar listings to save time or deliberately leave out information about any limitations or restrictions of the property, such as noise levels, pet policies, or smoking policies. It might not get your account deleted, but it will definitely lead to bad reviews. 

Instead, create detailed descriptions and high-quality photos to represent the property and amenities as accurately as possible. Then, regularly review these to ensure that they’re still an honest reflection of your property.

Use software for communication 

Communication is a lot to be handled by just one person. Not only do you need to respond to guest inquiries promptly and professionally, but you must also communicate with cleaners to ensure they maintain the required cleanliness levels.  

While Airbnb has a few features to help with communication, investing in comprehensive vacation rental software will also give you access to tools to help you build your presence on other sites. So, if your Airbnb account should get deleted, your property will remain visible and available to rent. 

For example, vacation rental software like iGMS can help take the load off.

Protect Your Future — The Detail is in the Fine Print

Airbnb has created its Ts and Cs to protect all users. Aside from ensuring that guests can enjoy pleasant stays, these rules are also needed so that the platform keeps its integrity. If other hosts are allowed to do as they please, your listing will inevitably suffer too. 

Even if you plan on not using Airbnb, you’ll still need to adhere to your local laws and insurance policy. So, you’ll always be governed by some Ts and Cs for security purposes. Plus, even if you aren’t legally required, isn’t good hospitality about being honest and communicative?

That said, even with the best intentions, mistakes happen. In the event that your listing disappears from search, keep calm, read the rules again, and contact Airbnb support.