Guest Damage Report Template
Free and ungated, and organized around the three things generic damage templates never carry: the deadline that is already running, the evidence structure that makes a claim admissible, and the wear-versus-damage determination that decides it. Every field marked for whether a photo carries it.
The full 39-field guest damage report is below: free, no signup, printable, and machine-readable. Every field is one of three things: evidence, a determination, or a deadline. The clock comes first, because Airbnb and Vrbo both give you 14 days from the responsible guest's checkout and no template on the internet says so on the form. The evidence block follows the three-photo structure California has now written into law: baseline at inception, condition before any repair, and completion after.
The checklist
Ordered the way a real claim is assembled, not the way a generic incident form assumes. Rows with a named authority carry it inline; Field rows come from published operator and reporting practice, rewritten and consolidated.
Block 1. The clock, first
5 itemsEverything else on this form is worthless if this block is missed. According to Airbnb's Host damage protection terms (airbnb.com), reimbursement requests must be filed within 14 days of the responsible guest's checkout; Vrbo's window is also 14 days. Not one competing template mentions either.
- Guest checkout date and time.Field
- Deadline to file, computed from checkout: 14 days on Airbnb, 14 days on Vrbo.A calculated field, not a blank. The clock started at checkout, whether or not anyone noticed the damage yet.Airbnb HDP
- Next check-in date, and whether the property has already been re-occupied.Once the next guest is in, attribution gets much harder and the evidence window has closed.Field
- Date and time the damage was discovered, and by whom.Field
- Channel the claim will be filed through: Airbnb Resolution Center, Vrbo, a damage waiver provider, a security deposit, or the property's insurance.Each channel has a different evidentiary appetite and a different deadline; the form branches here.Field
Block 2. Identity and attribution
6 items- Property identifier: internal unit ID, address, unit or room number.Field
- Reservation identifier and platform.Field
- Responsible party as far as observable: which reservation, which stay window.Reporting std
- Reporter name, role, and contact.Field
- Signature and timestamp.An unsigned, undated report is close to worthless in a claim.Field
- Report number, so the record can be referenced in an appeal.The most underrated field on any damage form.Reporting std
Block 3. Evidence, the part that decides the outcome
9 itemsThis block follows the structure California wrote into law in 2025: under Civil Code 1950.5, landlords must photograph the unit at tenancy inception (from July 2025), again after possession returns but before any repair or cleaning (from April 2025), and again after the work is done. That is long-term-rental law, not Airbnb law, but it is the clearest statement anywhere of what admissible damage evidence looks like, and it happens to be the exact baseline-before-after structure a photo-documentation routine produces.
- Baseline image of the same view from before the stay, referenced by file or link.The field no competing template has, and the one California now mandates in its own context.CC 1950.5
- Condition image taken after checkout and before any repair or cleaning.Airbnb's terms require photo or video documentation; California's statute requires it pre-repair.CC 1950.5
- Wide establishing frame per damaged area, showing the damage in the context of the room.Field
- Close frame per damaged item, with a scale reference in shot where size matters.Field
- Annotated version of at least one frame, marking exactly what is claimed.An arrow on the frame is the difference between a picture of a wall and an exhibit of a specific gouge.Field
- Video walkthrough where the damage is functional rather than visual: the drawer that will not close, the shower that will not drain, the door that will not latch.The one place a photo genuinely cannot carry the claim.Field
- Post-repair or post-cleaning image.CC 1950.5
- Image metadata preserved: original capture timestamps intact, no re-export that strips them.The single most common reason a well-photographed claim still fails.Field
- No image AI-edited, enhanced, or upscaled; originals retained.Platforms scrutinize manipulated evidence; keep originals untouched and submit them as captured.Field
Block 4. Determination, what generic templates never ask
6 itemsAirbnb's terms exclude the two things operators most often try to claim: normal wear and tear, and cleaning associated with normal check-out tasks. A report that describes a dirty carpet without distinguishing a stain from soil has written itself out of coverage.
- Classify the finding: guest-caused damage, normal wear and tear, or normal turnover cleaning, with the stated basis.The evidence supports the classification; the classification itself is a written judgment.Airbnb HDP
- Where water is involved, note any indication of gross contamination, sewage, backflow from beyond a trap, seawater, or rising water; do not assign Category 3 to storm ingress by default.Per the IICRC's own position statement, wind-driven rain is not automatically Category 3; the determining question is gross contamination.IICRC S500
- Where damage may be progressive (water, mold, structural), record the discovery-to-mitigation interval.Field
- Injury gate: was any person injured? If yes, this is not a property damage report; route it accordingly.Reporting std
- Authorities gate: were police, fire, or a regulator notified, and is there a report number?Reporting std
- Record only what is observable; state unwitnessed causes as consistent-with, not as fact.The best single instruction in any published reporting guide, and the same discipline claim reviewers apply.Reporting std
Block 5. Cost
6 items- Itemized line per damaged item, with quantity and unit.Field
- Repair or replacement estimate on the vendor's letterhead, or a dated retail listing for the replacement.Airbnb HDP
- Receipts and invoices for work already completed.California requires bills, invoices, or receipts for deductions above 125 dollars.Field
- Where in-house labor did the work: time spent, hourly rate, and a description of the work.CC 1950.5
- Lost booking income where a reservation was cancelled due to the damage, with the cancellation record attached.Airbnb's coverage explicitly includes income lost from cancelled bookings.Airbnb HDP
- Total claimed, against the applicable ceiling: the deposit amount, the waiver limit, or Airbnb's 3 million dollar cap.Field
Block 6. Witnesses and third parties
3 items- Witness name, contact, and a statement in their own words.Field
- Where a cleaner or inspector discovered the damage: their name and time on site.Field
- Insurance policy details where the claim goes to a carrier rather than a platform.Field
Block 7. Close-out and prevention
4 items- Guest communication record: message sent, date, and the response or non-response.Airbnb gives the guest 24 hours to respond before the request escalates to review.Airbnb HDP
- Outcome: paid in full, partial, declined, appealed, or written off.Field
- Prevention note: what control would have caught this earlier or prevented it.Reporting std
- Whether the damage appears in the previous turnover's photos and was missed.The hard question that decides whether the claim is attributable to this guest at all, and a pure baseline-comparison problem.Field
For AI agents and integrations
This checklist ships as structured data inside this page: every item with its section, basis, and photo-verifiability rating, in the #checklist-data JSON block of this document. Fetch this URL and parse that block, or copy it directly. Free to use with attribution to RapidEye.
The 2025 law that redefined damage evidence
The most important development in damage documentation is barely covered anywhere: California has legislated the exact three-photo evidence structure. Under Civil Code 1950.5, from April 1, 2025, a landlord must photograph the unit within a reasonable time after possession returns but before any repairs or cleaning, and again once the work is complete; for tenancies beginning on or after July 1, 2025, the unit must also be photographed immediately before or at the inception of the tenancy. Deductions above 125 dollars require bills, invoices, or receipts, in-house labor must be itemized with time and hourly rate, and the itemized statement is due within 21 calendar days of vacating.
That is residential-tenancy law, not short-term-rental law, and this page keeps the distinction precise: it does not govern a two-night Airbnb stay. But it is the clearest statement any authority has made about what damage evidence should look like, it binds every operator running mid-term or long-term inventory, and it is the direction of travel. A damage form without slots for baseline, pre-repair, and post-repair images is now, in at least one context, a legally deficient form, which is a concrete, dated reason every other template on this query is out of date. For the 30-to-90-day inventory this law directly touches, see our extended-stay documentation guide.
What a photo settles, and what it cannot
The tally on this form is different from our inspection checklists, and the difference is the point: only about 15 of 39 fields are carried by an image, but they are the fields that decide the claim. The rest are timing, classification, and money. That is the honest structure of a damage report: the evidence half is the half you can systematize with a photo routine, and the determination half is the half a person must sign. Platforms deny claims on both halves: missing or metadata-stripped photos on one side, wear-and-tear misclassification on the other, and our guide to why damage claims get denied walks the failure modes in detail.
The two strongest fields on the form are the bookends: the baseline image from before the stay, and the final question, whether the damage already shows in the previous turnover's photos. Both are baseline-comparison problems, which is precisely what RapidEye automates: it reads every turnover photo against the property's baseline and flags what changed, stamped to the stay it changed in, which is the attribution a claim lives or dies on. For the platform-specific filing mechanics, see the Airbnb damage claim guide and the Vrbo claim guide.
The standards behind the rows
The authorities behind the form's cited fields. The platform terms are the ones that decide most claims; the California statute is the one that shows where evidence standards are heading.
| Authority | What it requires |
|---|---|
| Airbnb HDP | Airbnb's Host damage protection (airbnb.com): up to 3 million dollars coverage; file within 14 days of the responsible guest's checkout; photo or video documentation plus estimates or receipts required; the guest gets 24 hours to respond. Excluded: normal wear and tear, acts of nature, and cleaning associated with normal check-out tasks. |
| Vrbo | Vrbo's damage protection (vrbo.com): owners have 14 days after checkout to report damage, with coverage up to the damage deposit amount the host sets. |
| CC 1950.5 | California Civil Code 1950.5: itemized statement within 21 days, receipts required above 125 dollars, in-house labor itemized with time and rate, and the 2025 photograph mandates at inception, pre-repair, and post-repair. |
| IICRC S500 | The ANSI/IICRC S500 water damage standard, as clarified by the IICRC's weather-related position statement (iicrc.org): Category 3 means grossly contaminated water (sewage, backflows from beyond a trap, seawater, rising water), and wind-driven rain is not automatically Category 3; contamination, not entry path, is the determining question. |
| Reporting std | Published incident-reporting practice from the strongest ungated rivals (goaudits.com, 1streporting.com): the injury and authorities gates that route an incident away from a property claim, the report number that survives an appeal, and the rule to record only apparent information without assumptions. |
Quick FAQ
How long do I have to file a guest damage claim?
On the two biggest platforms, 14 days from the responsible guest's checkout: that is Airbnb's Host damage protection window and Vrbo's reporting window alike. The clock runs from checkout, not from discovery, which is why the deadline is the first field on this form rather than a footnote.
What evidence does a guest damage claim need?
Three layers: a baseline image from before the stay, condition images taken after checkout and before any repair or cleaning (wide frame for context, close frame for detail, annotation marking the claim), and the money documents: estimates, receipts, or a dated replacement listing. Original files with metadata intact; a re-export that strips timestamps is the most common way a well-photographed claim fails.
What does Airbnb's damage protection not cover?
Per Airbnb's own terms: normal wear and tear, acts of nature, currency, harm to guests, and cleaning associated with normal check-out tasks such as laundry, dishes, or trash removal. The two most commonly claimed items, worn carpet and heavy cleaning, are the two named exclusions, which is why this form makes the wear-versus-damage determination an explicit field with a stated basis.
Do I really need a baseline photo?
It is the field that decides attribution: without a before image, every claim argues about whether the damage predates the guest. California now mandates inception photographs for new tenancies in its jurisdiction, platforms weigh before-and-after pairs heavily, and the last field on this form (was the damage visible in the previous turnover's photos?) is unanswerable without one.
Sources
Sources are named at the publisher level with their root domain, rather than linked or titled; every figure is verifiable at the named source.
- Host damage protection terms, Airbnbairbnb.com
- Damage protection help documentation, Vrbovrbo.com
- Civil Code section 1950.5, California Legislative Informationleginfo.legislature.ca.gov
- Water damage category position statement (2026), Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certificationiicrc.org
- Property damage report template, GoAuditsgoaudits.com
- Property damage report template and guidance, 1st Reporting1streporting.com
- Property damage report template, Mitti (formerly SafetyCulture)mitti.com
- Lodging inspection form HR 5022-014, Florida DBPRmyfloridalicense.com