Removing a co-host? Close every access point, keep the bookings

A co-host's last working day is approaching, but they still have access to the listing, calendar links and the lockbox. Removing the platform role alone will leave other routes open. Prepare a handover that closes each access point and gives confirmed guests a working contact.

This guide covers a planned departure from your hosting team. Handle contractual and payment questions separately; they are not prerequisites for protecting access. If you suspect misuse, secure the affected access promptly and take over guest support instead of waiting for a routine handover.

Inventory access before you remove it

Write down every place the person can read, change or open something. Removing access in a hurry tends to miss the places that are not on a platform.

• Platform roles: Airbnb co-host permissions, Booking.com extranet user accounts, and any Vrbo access you granted.
• Shared logins: any account where they used your own email and password instead of their own user.
• Your tools: channel manager, calendar tool, messaging templates, cleaning schedule, shared spreadsheets.
• Calendar feeds: iCal export links they copied into their own tools.
• The building: smart lock codes, lockbox codes, physical keys, garage remotes, Wi-Fi.
• People they brought in: cleaners they booked, other co-hosts they invited, suppliers who only know their number.

Airbnb: remove the co-host and check who they added

Airbnb offers three co-host permission levels. Review every listing and anyone the departing person added: the listing owner remains responsible for those co-hosts too.

Use Airbnb's removal instructions: select the listing, open Co-hosts in the listing editor, select the person and confirm removal. If they were primary host, check who takes over that role. Repeat the check for each affected listing.

Removing a role does not finish the operational handover. Review outstanding guest conversations and requests, then assign someone to answer them. You remain responsible for current and future requests, including those accepted by the co-host.

Check other platforms and shared logins

For Booking.com, Vrbo and other services, inspect the access actually granted in your own account. Record the relevant property and user, then follow that service's current account-management instructions. Do not assume removing someone on Airbnb changes any other platform.

Distinguish a separate user from a shared login. Revoke the person's own access where available. If they know credentials for an account you keep, change those credentials and review active sessions, recovery options and connected access using the provider's controls. Confirm that you retain a working owner or administrator login before ending the handover.

Your tools, calendar links and the door

In RentTools, manager access belongs to a particular property. The property owner can remove that manager; check each property separately. Pending manager invitations can also be revoked, and unused invitations expire after seven days. Do not leave an unused invitation open simply because the person has been removed elsewhere.

Calendar export links need their own check. Removing a manager does not revoke a copied feed URL. Rotate the relevant RentTools feed token and replace the link in integrations you still use; check that those calendars receive the new feed. Rotation cannot erase copies already saved. The iCal feed security guide explains the separate role of these links.

For the property itself:

• Revoke the departing person's individual door code at the agreed handover time. If a shared code changes, provide replacement access to current and arriving guests who need it.
• Recover physical keys and review unaccounted copies. Choose any lock work with the responsible property owner or provider.
• Treat the router administrator password and the guest Wi-Fi password as separate credentials. If the person knew the administrator password, changing only the guest password does not remove that route. If guest Wi-Fi details also change, use the Wi-Fi update checklist.

For lock choices beyond this handover, see the smart-lock and lockbox guide. Use the actual device's instructions to revoke access; changing a guest code may not remove an administrator role.

Protect the stays already booked

Arrange a replacement contact before the planned access cutoff. Do not make revocation depend on every guest replying; the owner or replacement can take over unanswered conversations.

Illustrative example: a host has two listings and four confirmed arrivals between the 10th and 30th. Two arrivals fall before the co-host's final working day, the 15th, and two after. This is a hypothetical handover, not a customer case.

1. Before the 15th, review all four stays and send the guests the current arrival information and replacement contact in the booking conversation.
2. Tell cleaners and suppliers who will approve work from the handover time.
3. At that time on the 15th, revoke the relevant platform and RentTools roles and check copied links and other credentials separately.
4. Coordinate replacement door access for every affected occupied or upcoming stay before shared codes change. Remove the departing person's access without locking guests out.
5. Check outstanding messages and requests immediately after the handover and again the next day.

Do not cancel or recreate reservations merely to change the person managing them. Keep the existing stay record and confirm who now handles arrival, cleaning and any unresolved question.

Keep a one-page offboarding record

Record the handover time, each access point checked, who changed it, any outstanding action and the new contact for each stay. Store this record privately; do not put passwords or live bearer links into a shared checklist. Finish by checking that the replacement can perform the work and the removed access has actually ended.

If you are choosing a replacement, the co-host commission guide covers a different question: how to assess the working arrangement.