Policy: Owners Using Their Own Cleaners for Short-Term Rentals

Company Position:

Property Providers’ vision is to “Help People Live Better” by being Sydney’s most flexible residential rental company. This vision is driven by three core values; Passion, Performance and Partnership. Importantly, we seek profit not through dollars and cents but through the pursuit of our guiding principle that all meaningful long-term partnerships have a strong foundation of mutual investment, respect, risk and commitment. We aim to create these virtues in all our relationships and touch points with long-term leasing tenants, short-term rental guests, employees, suppliers, partners and our property owner partners.

Document Purpose:

The purpose of this document is to clearly communicate the company’s policy as it relates to owners wanting to personally fulfill, execute, or organize their own initiation cleaning/housekeeping for short-term rental bookings.

Background:

Some owners want to have more control and/or to save cost where they can, so they can insist that they organize the cleaning/housekeeping of their property prior to guest arrival. We cannot emphasize just how essential and critical getting a high-quality cleaning job done is. Unfortunately, cleaning is incredibly subjective as people have varying standards and expectations. The bottom line is that when cleaning is completed properly it rarely acknowledged, however when things are overlooked, the situation escalates rapidly. The result is often emotionally charged and sometimes almost abusive confrontations with guests which avoidable if done right at the beginning and unfair to the agency’s staff. Last but certainly not least, resolving cleaning and housekeeping disputes often comes in the form of having to provide significant financial compensation (in some cases customers cancel or initiate legal proceedings) as well as consuming a considerable amount of other resources in terms of time and energy. Like most things, it is always best to try and get things right in the first instance rather than being put in a reactive position.

Policy Objectives:

To be clear, concise, consistent and upfront regarding what the company’s position is in relation to owners doing their own initiation cleaning and housekeeping for guest rentals.
To support the company’s guiding principal that all long-term relationships have a foundation of mutual respect, mutual reward, mutual investment and mutual risk.
To effectively manage the facilitation/implementation of fair and balanced solutions to all parties involved.
To implement a consistent and fair framework that balances the tenant/guest experience and the fiduciary duty that we have to you, the property owner, in managing the transaction between all parties while minimizing inconvenience, cost and risk.

Agency Policy:

Property Providers prefer to exclusively manage all cleaning/housekeeping so that we can control and take total responsibility for it; including returning to the property and resolving concerns immediately where required. Similarly, if an owner insists on managing the cleaning/housekeeping they too should equally accept total responsibility for it. In this regard the following mechanics apply in the case where the owner manages cleaning:
- If the customer is unhappy with the quality of the cleaning, the owner is required to organize their cleaners/housekeepers to return to the property within three hours.
- If the owner is unable to be contacted by the agency within one hour of the customers’ complaint or the owner is not able to have the cleaners return in the same day, the agency will organize their own cleaning team to attend to the property. In these cases:
  - Property Providers will do our best to resolve the issues but are unable to guarantee cleaners’ availability/attendance at the property.
  - A fixed management fee of $100 will apply.
  - A minimum of a six-hour call at $44 per hour + GST will apply. Importantly, however, the cleaners will remain at the property for however long it is required to ensure the occupants’ concerns are addressed and they are satisfied.
  - Penalty rates will apply for Sunday (+50%) and public holiday (+100%) work that is required.
  - If the cleaning is deployed/requested/dispatched after 3:00 pm then a 25% surcharge will apply.
  - Funds will be deducted/charged to the owner’s disbursement
Where an occupant feels that compensation or cancellation is warranted, we will act as an agent to facilitate communication between the guest and the owner with the objective of arriving at a swift solution. In this regard, we ask the owner to draft a written proposal (preferably with fair and factual evidence and fair rationale) for Property Providers to clearly present and negotiate on their behalf with the guest.
We will endeavour to do our best to negotiate win-win solutions between owners and occupants, however, should the matter be escalated through formal channels, our NCAT policy applies.
Where reductions, adjustments or cancellation occur, the owner will be responsible for paying the agency’s full commission on the original contract value.

Operational Mechanics:

Owners who wish to execute their own pre-arrival cleaning need to inform Property Providers of this no less than two weeks prior to the guest arrival.
Owners are still required to use Property Providers’ linen ( sheets, towels, soap etc.) for the guest stay. This will be dropped at the property at an arranged time and a labour request/charge raised for this drop off (minimum two hours for pick, pack and shipping).
Property Providers will still execute the guest’s exit clean. This is after the guest’s stay and prior to the owner’s return home. Property Providers will clean the property and remove the linen/towels. This is non-negotiable as it enables us to run our process as it relates to returning the guest’s security deposit and checking the property post-stay. The guest pays for the majority of this cleaning and you the owner contribute to it as well.
Claims made retrospectively or retroactively post-booking by guests will not be considered. It is best and advisable for any party to raise issues immediately upon them being discovered (i.e. the same day).
Irrational emotion, rhetoric and/or accusations are not constructive, and Property Providers will not tolerate abusive language or behaviour directed at our staff. Simply put we ask for all parties to be professional and respectful, as we feel that this is the best approach to achieving equitable solutions.
We expect you, our owners, to be reasonable and fair when reviewing guests’ complaints, given that you have chosen to orchestrate the cleaning and presentation of the property yourselves.

Summary:

Property Providers’ positioning is to be “Sydney’s Most Flexible Residential Rental Agency.” In this regard, we really do want to be fair to both owners and occupants alike. We have found that generally most people are reasonable, responsible and respectful.

We ask that in circumstances where cleaning and housekeeping impact the enjoyment of a property that owners understand that there is a significant amount of resource that is required to resolve a problem if it occurs. We simply request that owners respect this and contribute to helping the agency with smooth, speedy, fair and professional dispute resolution. Lastly, we believe that the above policy has been developed with the spirit of partnership in mind and is grounded by our guiding principle of mutual respect, mutual reward, mutual investment and mutual risk.

Effective Date: This policy is effective July 1st 2019