Why PreArrive exists
Most guests follow a rule they actively signed. The ones who don’t are the reason the PDF certificate exists. PreArrive does both jobs: it gets every guest to acknowledge each rule and each fee before check-in, and it keeps a tamper-evident record for the rare case that goes the other way.
Your rules are in the listing description. Your fees are mentioned in a welcome message. The guest read them — probably. There’s no record of when, or whether.
Disclosure of each fee in writing, acknowledged line-by-line by the guest, before check-in. With IPs, timestamps, and a content hash that can’t be edited after the fact.
Pine Hollow Cabin · HMQ8X4P9
01See it happen
Pick one of the three patterns hosts file claims for, then watch it play out twice. The difference is never the damage — it’s whether the guest’s signed acknowledgment was on file before check-in.
A guest smokes inside. You discover it at turnover.
Reservation confirmed
Listing rules: max 6 occupantsCheck-in
Two additional adults arriveCheckout
Neighbor noise complaint loggedOpen Resolution Center case
Request $200 extra-guest feeCase closed — no acknowledgment on file
$200 not collected · 14 days lostPacket sent by email
$100/guest/night fee disclosedGuest signs
5 items acknowledged · sig + hashCheck-in
Same 4 guests as reservationCheckout
No incident · no fee owedFee never needed
Most guests don’t test a signed ruleReservation confirmed
No-smoking rule in listingCheckout
Cleaner photographs ash and odorOpen Resolution Center case
Request $500 remediationGuest denies smoking
You send chat screenshot as evidenceCase closed — disclosure ≠ acknowledgment
You pay for the remediationPacket sent
$500 smoking remediation fee disclosedGuest signs
Acknowledged line-by-line · 09:13 EDTCheckout
Cleaner photographs ash and odorFile with packet + photos
Signed certificate attachedA complete file goes to AirCover
Outcome at Airbnb’s discretion · illustrative timelineReservation confirmed
11 AM checkout in welcome messageCheckout time
Guest still on property at 1 PMNext guest delayed
You owe cleaner overtimeOpen Resolution Center case
Request $250 late-checkout feeCase closed — fee not in writing
You absorb the loss + bad reviewPacket sent
$250 late-checkout fee disclosedGuest signs
Tapped explicitly on the fee item11 AM — guest already gone
A signed rule reads differentlyTurnover on time
Next guest checks in at 3 PMFee never needed
Late checkouts drop, not eliminate02Why it works
Sixty years of behavioral research point to one finding: people who actively sign, tap, or write down an agreement act consistently with it afterward. Passive notice — a paragraph in a listing, a sign on a wall — doesn’t move behavior the same way.[1][2]
03What you keep
Airbnb support staff, an insurer, a small-claims clerk — the same artifact works in all three venues because the chain of custody is legible to all three workflows.
Disclosure on a date that pre-dates check-in
The packet was sent three days before. Date is the legal pivot — disclosure must happen before the stay begins.[3]
Line-by-line acknowledgments
Each fee and each rule was tapped individually. Not a bulk “I agree” checkbox.
Two-event audit chain
Email click and signature event — each with its own IP and timestamp. Together they are the evidentiary spine.
Cryptographic seal
SHA-256 over the disclosure text and acknowledgments. A one-character edit produces a different hash.
Build a packet once, send it on every reservation. Free covers one property. Paid tiers start at $9/mo when you outgrow the volume caps.