OwnerRez's Airbnb changes have landed, and only new connections skip security deposits by default

A week ago OwnerRez told customers not to touch their configuration until its Airbnb updates shipped. The 28 October release is those updates, and the detail that matters most is a single word: new.

New Airbnb channel integration connections are now configured to skip security deposits by default, and to exclude Airbnb from new rental agreement messages. Connections you already have are not described as being changed. So if you set up your Airbnb listings months or years ago with a deposit hold and a rental agreement step, the new defaults do not reach back and fix them for you.

That is the gap to close before 20 November, when Airbnb's house rules and guest requests policy starts applying to new bookings.

The three Airbnb changes

Security deposits are off by default on new Airbnb connections. Rental agreement messages created from now on exclude Airbnb. And the Listing Quality Analyzer now flags check-in and check-out times that Airbnb has rejected, with an error explaining why, instead of leaving you to work out why a time never took effect.

There is also a fix so guest names and profile photos sync properly on the Airbnb channel integration.

What this means for an existing setup

Airbnb's policy limits separate rental agreements to specific cases, including where law or a homeowners association requires one, stays of 28 nights or more, Luxe listings and optional extras. It also says it will not help enforce a host's contract. On guest data, the default position is that hosts cannot collect contact details, ID documents or photos, financial details, background checks, or biometric and health data.

An agreement step or a deposit hold that sits on an Airbnb booking today therefore needs a reason to still be there on 20 November. The practical job is short and worth doing this week:

List your Airbnb listings and note which ones run a rental agreement and which run a security deposit. Check whether each falls into one of Airbnb's permitted cases. Where it does not, turn it off on that listing rather than waiting for a default to do it. Then look at what your rental agreement actually collects, because the data restrictions can bite even where the agreement itself is allowed.

OwnerRez said a guide explaining what changed and what hosts may need to do would follow the product changes. If you are holding off on reconfiguring, that guide is the thing to read next, and it should answer whether existing connections get migrated or stay as they are.

The part no release note fixes

The operational half of Airbnb's policy is still yours. Guests cannot be required to wash and put away dishes, strip beds or take rubbish off the property, and rules sent by message or left on the fridge do not count. A changed default in a channel integration does not change what a cleaner finds on a Tuesday morning.

If any part of your turnover plan assumes a guest does something before leaving, the three weeks to 20 November is the window to re-cost it, not to wait and see how it goes.