Short-term rentals must be particularly monitored on holiday weekends to avoid large parties

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Turnkey El Paso, a short-term rental company like Airbnb, has implemented an “anti-party” system that operates year-round, but especially during the holidays, to prevent property abuse.

Turnkey El Paso says they have similar rules to Airbnb and do not tolerate large parties and damage to property owned by their company.

Amanda Middleton, property manager at Turnkey El Paso, said they always use anti-party measures on all reservations to prevent any misuse of their properties.

“Of course, this is to protect our owners and to be considerate of our neighbors and things like that. But we do require things like checking your ID. We require additional rental agreements,” Middleton said.

Middleton said she has been in the business for quite some time and her experience allows her to spot certain warning signs in rental properties.

“Like last-minute reservations or just certain questions they ask, like if there are security cameras or something like that. That’s how we get a sense of if there might be something wrong with a reservation,” Middleton said.

She told KTSM that the state is on high alert over holiday weekends to prevent large gatherings of people.

Middleton says Turnkey El Paso was lucky because, fortunately, no guests violated the house rules or hosted a large event.

“But the reality is we’ve had pretty much no problems with parties this year. And even if there is a problem, it’s usually minor problems, like someone broke something because they had a small child with them or something like that, that’s very, very rare,” Middleton said.

She also said that they put a lot of thought into tenant screening and do a lot of research before accepting a booking.

“We’ve done a lot of experimentation to get a lot of things going. For example, there are certain types of properties that are conducive to parties, like houses with pools or really big backyards or houses that can sleep a lot of people,” Middleton said.

Middleton said she encourages property owners to use technology such as noise meters to monitor noise levels and prevent a party before it actually happens.

“We are booked 60 percent of the year in almost all of our properties. In fact, there were no parties at all last year and this year,” Middleton said.

Middleton told KTSM that renting during the holidays is just as expensive as booking a hotel. She also said that in case of any damage during the stay, the guest already has an “in-house” insurance program with Turnkey El Paso.

“That means if they accidentally break something or something, they’re actually covered. So we’re not suing them for a $50 vase that they accidentally broke or something. And our owners are covered up to $1,500 in damages,” she said.

To learn more about Turnkey El Paso, click here.

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