Published Reviews Policy: What Hosts Should Record
The published review process and damage recovery are two separate published tracks. This page quotes what the primary policy pages actually say about each, and where the calendars overlap. It predicts nothing.
What this page is, and is not
This is an orientation to the published policy text: Airbnb's Reviews Policy and its Host Damage Protection Terms, quoted from the primary pages with retrieval noted. It is not legal advice, it is not a prediction that any review will be removed or changed, and it does not rank any path over any other. Review outcomes and payment outcomes are platform decisions.
The Reviews Policy defines specific removal grounds
The policy page (Reviews Policy, article 2673) states that "reviews may only be removed from our platform in limited circumstances," and lists the categories it acts on: reviews that are irrelevant, fake, biased, used to harm competition, retaliatory, or in violation of the Content Policy. On bias and pressure, the operative sentences are these:
"Hosts and guests may not coordinate with, manipulate, extort, incentivize, or pressure another person to influence a review or exploit the review system."
"Reviews may not be provided or withheld in exchange for something of value-like a discount, refund, or a reciprocal positive review-or a promise not to take negative action against the reviewer."
Those prohibitions bind both sides of a reservation. They are also the reason no records tool, this one included, should ever help a host trade anything for a review.
The retaliatory-review test is narrow, and it is three-part
The same policy page defines exactly when a review counts as retaliatory:
"A review will only be considered retaliatory if the reviewer committed a policy violation, was notified of that violation, and then left a biased review because their own violation was reported. A review discussing the facts or legitimacy of a Resolution Center or AirCover claim isn't automatically considered retaliatory."
Read the second sentence as carefully as the first. A review that talks about a damage claim is not, by itself, a policy violation. The test requires a violation, notice of it, and a biased review because the violation was reported. All three elements are the policy's, not ours, and the decision on any specific review is Airbnb's.
What Airbnb says it will and will not do
Three more sentences from the primary pages set the frame. The Reviews Policy states: "We generally don't mediate disputes concerning review accuracy" (article 2673). The reviews overview states: "Airbnb doesn't moderate reviews before they're published" (Reviews for homes, article 13). And the same page notes: "Reviews that have been removed by Airbnb are excluded from the calculation of both listing and host ratings" (article 13). Public response and policy-cited reporting are two separate processes the platform publishes; each is available, and neither is described here as more promising than the other.
The review window, and who holds it
Article 13 states: "Both parties will have 14 days after checkout to submit their review." Reviews publish only after both parties have submitted or when the window closes, whichever comes first, so neither side sees the other's review before writing their own (article 13). A review's author may remove their own review "up to 30 days from the date it's published" (Remove or dispute a review, article 3582): that clock runs from publication, not from checkout. No published rule removes a guest's right to review after a damage claim is filed; the pages reviewed simply contain no such provision.
The remove-or-dispute flow has published mechanics
The dispute page (article 3582) describes the reporting flow in plain terms: "We'll review your request and email you our decision, usually within 48 hours," and "you can only submit a removal request for the same review up to two times." The same page draws the line between responding and removing: "You can post a public response to reviews that others leave for you, but you can't remove them. Reviews are only removed if they violate our Reviews Policy."
The damage-recovery clocks are a separate process
Reimbursement runs on its own published timing, stated here in full: Airbnb Host Damage Protection Terms, article 2869, checked July 31, 2026, when the live page displayed "Last updated: August 1, 2026" (the operative 14-day and 30-day provisions quoted here matched the text visible on that check). Within 14 days of the Responsible Guest's checkout: best efforts to recover from the guest AND notify Airbnb of the complaint. Within 30 days of checkout: the Host Damage Protection Payment Request Form with Legitimate and Verifiable Evidence (article 2869).
The recovery window and the review window overlap on the calendar; both run from checkout. That is a statement about dates, nothing more. Timing language also varies across the platform's own help pages, and the terms text above is the complete formulation; the timing guide in this library walks those differences page by page.
The federal boundary on trading for reviews
The FTC's Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465, effective October 21, 2024) prohibits, among other conduct, buying reviews that must express a particular sentiment. The FTC's own guidance on the rule answers the exchange question directly: "paying consumers to change or remove truthful negative reviews may violate the FTC Act as an unfair or deceptive act or practice, because it may wind up distorting or otherwise misrepresenting what consumers think about your business or its products" (FTC, Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: Questions and Answers). Between that rule and the platform prohibitions quoted above, offering money, a refund, or a dropped reimbursement request in exchange for review conduct is the exposed move. Records are not.
What sits inside the host's control
Platform decisions, decision timing, and reviewer conduct do not. What does: having dated materials for the stay in question, organized before they are needed, and reading the current version of the published policy text before acting on any of it. Every quotation above carries its source link; policies change, so confirm the live page before relying on a line.
StayTurn is a $39 one-time purchase that keeps each stay's turn prep, cleaner handoff, photos, receipts, notes, and costs together in one dated record you own, on your device. Your photos and files stay on your device unless you choose to send them.
StayTurn organizes evidence for export. It does not submit claims, does not give claims-handling advice, and no documentation practice determines any outcome.
StayTurn is an independent tool, not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Airbnb or Vrbo.
Source. Airbnb Host Damage Protection Terms, article 2869. Live page checked July 31, 2026. The page displayed "Last updated: August 1, 2026." The quoted sections in this article were compared with the text displayed during that check. Platform terms can change, so operators should verify the current source directly (article 2869).
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