Short answer: a homestay deposit can only be deducted for real, evidenced losses - broken or missing items, cleaning well beyond a normal turnover, a fine the building issued because of the guest - never for normal wear and tear, paint that bubbled because of humidity, or "a little something to teach them". Across our 100+ units in Johor Bahru and Desaru the rule is simple: no photo, no deduction; an itemised list reaches the guest within 24 hours of check-out; and when the guest denies it, the case goes down the platform route (Airbnb gives you 14 days) or is settled directly on evidence - not by sitting on the deposit until the guest gives up.
Search this topic in English and page one is written for hosts in the United States and Europe: how Airbnb retired the old security deposit, how AirCover's Host Damage Protection works, how to file through the Resolution Center. Useful, but it assumes the host is a private individual facing one guest. In Malaysia the local results are viral stories - a guest accused of damaging a wall that had actually bubbled from damp, a guest whose deposit was docked for dirty towels and then asked to keep the towels - plus long-term tenancy guides about the Contracts Act. Nobody writes from the seat of the management company in the middle: the owner on one side wants every scratch paid for, the guest on the other says they only slept there two nights. This article is about that middle seat. It follows on from our three lines of defence against problem guests and what we do when a booking turns into a party.
What does the RM200 deposit actually cover?
Our system's default deposit is RM200 per booking, collected on check-in day and released after check-out once the unit has been inspected - the check-in process is here. RM200 is not a budget for "anything the owner doesn't like". It covers a short, specific list:
| Deductible | Not deductible |
|---|---|
| Damaged or missing items beyond normal wear: lost TV remote, cracked mirror, iron burn on a bedsheet, cabinet door ripped off its hinges | Normal wear: a mattress that has softened, a faded sofa, fine scratches on laminate flooring, a pen mark that wipes off the wall |
| Cleaning beyond a normal turnover: vomit, pet waste, rubbish left for two days, cooking oil over the whole kitchen | Normal cleaning: unwashed dishes, unmade beds, a full bin - that is the cleaner's job and is already paid for by the cleaning fee |
| A fine the condo management issued because of the guest (noise, overcrowding, parking in the wrong bay), with the management notice attached | Damage the guest did not cause: paint bubbling from damp, a leaking air-conditioner, a pipe blocked by age |
| Consumables taken in unreasonable quantity: every towel, every clothes hanger | Consumables that are there to be used: soap, tissue, coffee, water |
| Electricity obviously wasted - air-conditioning left at 16°C all day after the guests went out, with a photo of the meter or the remote | Normal electricity use during the stay |
The right-hand column matters more than the left. Most of the Malaysian viral deposit disputes are not about guests who really broke something; they are about an owner trying to shift maintenance cost onto whichever guest happened to stay last. When that happens the guest wins in public, and should.
What evidence do we need before a single ringgit is deducted?
We do not trust anyone's memory - not the guest's, not the cleaner's, not the owner's. A deduction can only go ahead when all four of these exist:
- Baseline photos taken before the guest arrived. Every turnover, the cleaner photographs the bedrooms, kitchen, bathrooms and the items that get claimed most (TV, remotes, linen). Without a "before", an "after" proves nothing.
- Damage photos on check-out day, before cleaning starts. If the cleaner tidies first and notices later, the evidence is already weak.
- A receipt or a repair quote. Replaced items come with the receipt; repaired items come with the contractor's quote. A round number without paper is not a deduction, it is a guess.
- A record in the system with the photo attached. Our staff physically cannot submit a deduction request without at least one photo - the software refuses it. That is not a guideline; it is a rule in the code.
If you are our guest and you receive a deduction notice without photos, that is not our process. Ask for the photos.
How much do we deduct - new price or real cost?
The principle: the actual cost of putting the unit back to the state it was in before the guest arrived, not the price of a brand-new item to replace a five-year-old one. Three rules:
- If it can be repaired, we repair, we don't replace. A cabinet door off its hinges is a handyman visit and a pair of hinges, not a new cabinet.
- If it must be replaced, we use the current market price of an equivalent item, with the receipt. A hotel-grade towel is replaced with a hotel-grade towel, not a boutique one.
- No "admin fee", no "inconvenience charge". Our staff's time handling the case is part of the management fee the owner already pays. The guest does not pay twice.
As a worked example (example figures, not our price list): a lost TV remote, original replacement RM40 on the receipt - deduction RM40, the remaining RM160 released the same time. Not "RM100 for the remote and the trouble".
This is also why we do not use a fixed penalty list like "stained bedsheet RM50, broken cup RM20" that you see in some homestay house rules. Lists like that are easy to read and collapse the moment a guest challenges them, because they are not tied to a real cost.
What happens when the guest denies it?
This is the question owners ask most. Our sequence:
| When | Step | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Check-out day, before cleaning | Damage photos and baseline photos laid side by side | Guests accept evidence that is clear and fast; they fight evidence that arrives a week later |
| Within 24 hours | Itemised list sent to the guest: item, photo, receipt or quote, amount, and the balance of the deposit being returned | A guest who receives a full list rarely disputes it; a guest who receives only "deposit withheld" almost always does |
| 24–48 hours | One round of discussion. If the guest produces counter-evidence (a photo from arrival showing the item already damaged), we accept it and withdraw | A baseline photo that missed one corner, damage from the previous guest - it can happen, and we would rather withdraw than dig in |
| After that, platform bookings | The platform route. Airbnb: a request through the Resolution Center within 14 days of check-out or before the next guest checks in, whichever is earlier; the guest gets a short window to respond; if they decline, the case escalates to AirCover's Host Damage Protection. Other platforms have their own windows, mostly a few days | After the window the case is closed - missing the deadline is the single most common reason claims are refused |
| After that, direct bookings | The deposit is already with us. The deduction is made with the list and evidence; the guest can object in writing and we answer in writing | Direct bookings are simpler for the owner and more transparent for the guest - everything sits in one record |
What we do not do: hold the whole deposit "until the guest admits it". The undisputed part is released immediately; only the disputed amount is held. Holding RM200 over a RM30 argument is the fastest way to earn a one-star review the guest is entitled to give.
On the legal side, the general principle in Malaysia is that compensation for a breach of contract must reflect actual loss, not an arbitrary figure - the same basis the long-term tenancy deposit guides cite under the Contracts Act 1950. For a homestay, we treat the house rules the guest accepted at booking as that contract. This is not legal advice; for large claims or anything heading to a tribunal or court, speak to a lawyer.
What if the damage is bigger than the deposit?
Owners need to hear this part plainly, because it is the uncomfortable one.
RM200 covers remotes, linen, mirrors and a heavy clean. RM200 does not cover a mattress that has to be replaced, a smashed TV, or a bedroom door that was kicked in. When the damage exceeds the deposit:
- Direct bookings: we claim the balance from the guest in writing, with evidence. Good guests pay. Bad guests don't, and chasing RM600 from someone who has gone home to another country is rarely worth the hours.
- Platform bookings: we file through the platform. Airbnb advertises protection up to a very large figure, but the real-world experience of hosts - including Malaysian hosts who have shared their cases in forums - is that claims take time, get partially paid, or get refused even when the guest admitted the damage. We file every time, we attach everything, and we do not promise the outcome.
- The unrecoverable balance appears in the owner's report for that month as a cost. We do not bury it in another line. The owner sees it, and we explain it.
That is why the real protection is not the deposit - it is keeping the wrong guest out in the first place. Deposit tiers by platform and guest history, a 0–10 guest score that follows the phone number, eKYC before check-in - all explained here. Low-scoring guests pay a higher deposit or are declined; guests with a clean record are released from the deposit entirely. The RM200 is the last layer, not the first.
What do we refuse to deduct even when the owner asks?
Some owners will not like this section, but it is better read here than discovered after signing.
Sometimes an owner visits the unit after a guest leaves, sees a scratch on the dining table or a small mark on the sofa, and asks us to deduct it from the last guest's deposit. If the baseline photos show the scratch was already there, or if it is ordinary wear on furniture that sees twenty groups a month, we do not deduct it. Three reasons:
- The guest will win if they challenge it, and the bad review that follows costs the unit for months - far more than RM50.
- The guest score in our system only means something if it is fair. A guest who is charged unfairly and then scored down corrupts the system for every other unit.
- Normal wear is a cost of running a homestay. It is what the income is supposed to pay for, not the last guest who happened to stay before the owner dropped by.
What we do instead is log the item on the unit's maintenance list, so it gets fixed before it gets worse and so the next baseline photos show the true state.
Which rules did we change after cases like these?
Every rule below exists because of a dispute that was lost or nearly lost:
- Baseline photos every turnover, not once a year. A single set of "unit just completed" photos is useless after a few months and dozens of groups.
- The itemised list within 24 hours became the standard, not "when we get to it". Disputes that start with a full list settle in a day; disputes that start with "deposit withheld" settle in a week, with a bad review attached.
- No photo, no deduction was moved into the software so it does not depend on who is on shift.
- Undisputed amounts are released first. A guest who sees RM170 back in their account the same day is far calmer discussing the remaining RM30.
- Platform claims are filed inside the platform's window, no exceptions, even when we think the odds are poor. After the window the answer is a guaranteed no.
If you own a unit in Johor Bahru or Desaru and the deposit has been the part you hate most - because guests get angry, or because you feel you always end up out of pocket - that is one of the things the management fee is for. Every deduction has a photo, a receipt and a reason in your report; every dispute has a record; and every guest who damaged something carries a score into their next booking. Tell us where the unit is and we will recommend a deposit level with it.