You will be required to verify your e-mail address and phone number to use Houfy's messaging system which includes inquiring and booking requests.

Do I need to sign up with Houfy to send a booking request to a host?

Houfy is similar to other platforms that require travelers to create an account before making a reservation. 

Help!  My guest clicked on my special offer link and was taken to a login page.

Waive Damage Deposit or security deposit for Houfy reservation

A security deposit hold is a temporary authorization on the guest’s credit card. Think of it like a hotel placing a hold when you check in — the money isn’t actually charged, but it’s reserved. The guest sees a “pending” charge on their statement, but the funds aren’t transferred to you.

This protects you as a host: if the guest damages your property, you can capture part or all of the held amount. If everything is fine, you release the hold and the guest is never charged.

Houfy manages your security deposit through five automated phases:

Houfy creates a scheduled hold based on your collection timing setting. No emails are sent at this stage — it’s internal scheduling only.

When: 3 days and 1 day before the hold date.

Alerts go out to both you and the guest that a hold is coming. The guest sees the deposit amount and the date the hold will be placed.

Houfy places an authorization hold on the guest’s saved card. No money moves. Both you and the guest receive a confirmation (or failure notification if the hold couldn’t be placed).

When: During the guest’s stay, if needed.

If the hold expires before checkout (holds last 7 days on Stripe/Square, 29 days on PayPal), Houfy automatically renews it. The guest receives a notification when the hold is renewed.

You decide: release the hold (no damage) or capture it (damage found). Both you and the guest receive a confirmation of the outcome.

You control when the security deposit hold is placed by setting the collection timing in your listing’s pricing settings. Your options:

When Houfy places a security deposit hold, it creates an authorization on the guest’s card. The guest sees a “pending” amount on their credit card statement, but the money stays in their account. No money is transferred to you at this point.

Authorization holds have an expiration window set by the payment provider. For Stripe and Square, holds expire after 7 days. For PayPal, holds last up to 29 days.

If the guest’s stay is longer than the hold window (for example, a 14-day stay with Stripe’s 7-day hold limit), Houfy automatically renews the hold before it expires. It voids the old hold and creates a new one. The guest receives an email notification when this happens.

After the guest checks out, you have a window to inspect your property and decide what to do with the security deposit hold. Houfy sends you a reminder email before the hold auto-releases.

If everything looks good, release the hold. The “pending” charge disappears from the guest’s card statement and no money changes hands. Both you and the guest receive a confirmation email.

Option 2: Capture the full amount (damage found)

If you find damage that costs as much as (or more than) the deposit amount, you can capture the full security deposit. The held amount is then transferred from the guest’s card to you. You’ll need to provide a reason for the capture. Both parties receive an email with the amount captured and the reason.

If the damage costs less than the full deposit, you can capture just the amount you need. For example, if the deposit is $500 and the damage costs $150, you capture $150 and the remaining $350 hold is released. The guest is only charged $150.

Your security deposit moves through these statuses during its lifecycle:

Does the guest actually get charged for the security deposit?

Not unless you capture it. A hold reserves the funds on their card (they see a “pending” amount), but the money isn’t transferred to you unless you choose to capture it after finding damage.

What if the guest’s card doesn’t have enough funds for the hold?

The hold will fail and both you and the guest are notified. Houfy automatically retries on the next processing run. The guest may need to ensure their card has sufficient available credit.

How long do I have to capture the deposit after checkout?

You have until the hold expires. For Stripe and Square, that’s 7 days from when the hold was last placed or renewed. For PayPal, it’s up to 29 days. Houfy sends you a pre-release reminder so you don’t miss the window.

Can I set different deposit amounts for different listings?

Yes. Each listing has its own security deposit amount and collection timing. You configure these in each listing’s pricing settings.

What happens if the guest cancels their reservation?

If the reservation is canceled before the hold is placed, the scheduled hold is automatically canceled too. If a hold is already active, it’s released (voided) when the reservation is canceled.

Can I use security deposits with the Full Payment policy?

Yes. Security deposits work independently from your payment policy. Whether you use Full Payment or Deposit + Balance, you can still enable a security deposit hold.

How Do Automated Payment Security Deposit Holds Work?

Houfy’s automated payment system sends emails at specific moments throughout a reservation’s payment timeline. Which emails are sent depends on whether the guest agreed to auto-charge at checkout or will pay manually.

Every payment alert falls into one of three categories:

Auto-Charge Alerts (Guest Agreed to Auto-Charge)

When a guest agrees to auto-charge at checkout, their card is saved and Houfy handles all payments automatically. Here are the alerts sent during this process:

Auto-charge alerts apply to all types of automated charges:

Each split payment or balance due charge gets its own set of 3-day, 1-day, success, and failure alerts.

Manual Payment Reminders (Guest Did Not Agree to Auto-Charge)

When a guest doesn’t agree to auto-charge, Houfy can’t charge their card automatically. Instead, it sends a series of reminders asking the guest to log in and pay. These reminders are sent daily at 8:00 AM and get progressively more urgent.

For the first three reminder stages, only the guest receives emails. This keeps your inbox clean while Houfy handles the follow-up. You’re only alerted at the final stage — one day before check-in — when you may need to take direct action, such as contacting the guest yourself.

If you have a security deposit enabled on your listing, Houfy sends alerts at every stage of the deposit lifecycle. These are separate from balance due and split payment alerts.

Here’s what the full alert timeline looks like for a typical reservation with a Deposit + Balance payment policy and a security deposit, where the guest agreed to auto-charge:

If the guest did not agree to auto-charge, the balance due alerts above would be replaced by the manual payment reminder sequence instead.

Payment alerts are part of the automated payment system and cannot be turned off individually. They’re designed to keep both you and the guest informed about every payment event. However, you can manage their email notification preferences in their Houfy account settings.

What if the guest doesn’t read the alerts and the charge goes through?

Auto-charge alerts are informational — the charge will still be processed on the scheduled date regardless of whether the guest reads the email. The alerts give the guest advance notice so they can ensure their card has sufficient funds.

Why didn’t my guest receive a reminder?

Manual payment reminders are only sent to guests who did not agree to auto-charge. If the guest agreed to auto-charge, they’ll receive auto-charge alerts instead (3-day notice, 1-day notice, success/failure). Also, each reminder is only sent once — check whether the reminder was already sent for this reservation.

What happens if a charge fails and the guest doesn’t respond to the alert?

Houfy retries failed charges automatically on the next hourly processing run. Both you and the guest receive a failure alert each time. If the issue persists after multiple attempts, you may need to contact the guest directly to resolve the payment method issue.

Do split payments each get their own alerts?

Yes. Each split payment installment is treated as a separate charge with its own complete set of alerts: 3-day notice, 1-day notice, and success or failure confirmation. If you have three split payments scheduled, the guest and host will receive three separate sets of alerts.

Does Houfy send alerts for the initial booking payment?

The initial booking payment (the deposit or full payment at the time of booking) triggers a standard booking confirmation email, not the auto-charge alert sequence. Auto-charge alerts only apply to future scheduled charges like balance due payments, split payments, and security deposit holds.

Here’s every payment-related email alert Houfy sends, organized by category:

Account Settings

Creating an Account

Log into your Account

Editing your account

Change your Password

Deleting your account

Push, Email and Text Notifications

Refer & Invite

Subscriptions

Managing your Listing

Creating a listing

Listing Description

Location

Photos

Pricing

Fees

Taxes

Seasonal pricing

Discounts

Reviews

Settings & rules

Payment and Policies

Verifications

Calendar & Availability

Hosts

About Hosting on Houfy

Houfy hosts

Direct booking inquiries

How reservations work

Communicating with guests

Booking requirements for guests

Changes

Guest refunds

Cancellations

Reminders

Your Reservations

Direct Payouts & Taxes

Calendar & Bookings

Invoices and receipts

Rental agreements

Protection and insurance

Host Tools

Dynamic pricing

Software Partners

Houfy promotions

Houfy website builder

Rental agreement creator

Quotes & special offers

Houfy Widgets

Houfy map builder

Houfy API

Guests

Booking places to stay

Favorites

Communicating with hosts

Messaging

Reviews for guests

Guest Coverage & Protection

Paying for a reservation

Do I need to sign up with Houfy to send a booking request to a host?

Help! My guest clicked on my special offer link and was taken to a login page.

Waive Damage Deposit or security deposit for Houfy reservation

How Do Automated Payment Security Deposit Holds Work?

What Payment Alerts & Reminders Does Houfy Send?

Pricing and Fees

Changes

Cancellations

Your Houfeed

General information

Posts

Collections

Follow Members

Terms & Policies

Other

About Houfy

Community Guidelines & Standards

Account security

Reporting Issues

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