My VRBO Listing is marked hidden with no way to unhide it

My VRBO Listing is marked hidden with no way to unhide it

Investor · Irvine, CA · Member since 2012 · 3 posts · 0 votes

Hi all,

I have had my property listed on VRBO with no issues for over the past year. But a little over a week ago on Sept 28 I received an email from VRBO saying my rental listing was no longer visible on the platform "due to a missing, invalid, or expired registration, permit, license, or Tax ID number."

My minimum stay has always been set to 31 days, but apparently my listing had been classified as an STR, which I think was why VRBO thought it needed to have a registration # from my city. I think was able to change the STR classification to LTR on the VRBO website the next day, but don't remember exactly how I did it.

Now my listing status on the platform is "Hidden" with no option to unhide it, arg!

I have called or done the online chat thing with VRBO support about 6 times now. They can see the history of the property, but they always tell me that there is another team that handles hidden listings, and that team will get back to me "at some point". Two of the support reps had indicated it usually takes 72 hours for that team to get back in touch, but it has gone past 72 hours and I haven't heard a peep. I need that VRBO audience to be seeing my listing in their searches.

Has anyone here gone through a similar experience with VRBO? Any advice?

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  • Investor · Scottsdale Austin Tuktoyaktuk · Member since 2021 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    3y
    Quote from @Jason Reber:

    Hi all,

    I have had my property listed on VRBO with no issues for over the past year. But a little over a week ago on Sept 28 I received an email from VRBO saying my rental listing was no longer visible on the platform "due to a missing, invalid, or expired registration, permit, license, or Tax ID number."

    My minimum stay has always been set to 31 days, but apparently my listing had been classified as an STR, which I think was why VRBO thought it needed to have a registration # from my city. I think was able to change the STR classification to LTR on the VRBO website the next day, but don't remember exactly how I did it.

    Now my listing status on the platform is "Hidden" with no option to unhide it, arg!

    I have called or done the online chat thing with VRBO support about 6 times now. They can see the history of the property, but they always tell me that there is another team that handles hidden listings, and that team will get back to me "at some point". Two of the support reps had indicated it usually takes 72 hours for that team to get back in touch, but it has gone past 72 hours and I haven't heard a peep. I need that VRBO audience to be seeing my listing in their searches.

    Has anyone here gone through a similar experience with VRBO? Any advice?

    I don't know how to resolve that one sorry. Maybe someone will join in with an idea that works.

    But, what I have seen people talk about is to delete the listing and redo the listing. Not the best solution, I know, but it seems to be an uphill battle to get VRBO to address the problem.

  • Investor · Irvine, CA · Member since 2012 · 3 posts · 0 votes
    3y

    Thanks Mike. VRBO support has indicated that deleting the listing will complicate the relisting of the property at the same address, but I'm keeping that open as an option. After dealing with several different support people at VRBO I finally found one who at least will provide me with updates, even though each update is always "no change in status".

    I'll add to this thread in case it helps anyone else having similar troubles with VRBO.

  • Investor · Irvine, CA · Member since 2012 · 3 posts · 0 votes
    3y

    This is now resolved, though no clear answer as to what caused it. What worked for me in breaking through: 1) keep contacting support about the problem, every day - stay on them; 2) I spoke with numerous different support people, and only 1 of them was proactive in getting back to me with regular status updates - find that person and keep in touch with them daily to get resolution; 3) include as much detail as you can in your correspondence - in my case I had to send links to my city's website where the city clearly spelled out their STR/LTR classification and licensing requirements.

    Lastly, if you operate a long-term rental on ABB and/or VRBO, make sure it is properly configured as an LTR with a 31-night minimum on those platforms - it looks like I hadn't completely done that on VRBO, and that bit me in the butt one year later. Lesson learned :)

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