This agreement (version 1) sets out how MEVAJ HOMES ("Mevaj", "we") manages short-stay rentals for property owners ("you"). You accept it in your owner dashboard. A separate signed schedule may record property-specific details (address, inventory, keys, special rates).
1. What Mevaj does
- List and market your property on mevajhomes.com, Airbnb and other channels we choose, and keep their calendars in sync.
- Set nightly rates with you, answer guests, verify guest identity, keep the guest register required by the Tourism Act, 2011, and coordinate check-in, cleaning and laundry.
- Collect guest payments, and pay VAT, tourism levy and platform fees where they apply.
- Keep your share in a separate client account and pay it to you.
2. What you do
- Confirm you own the property or have the right to let it short-term. That includes your landlord's, management company's or lender's consent where needed.
- Keep the property safe, legal and insured. Register it as a short-term rental with the Tourism Regulatory Authority (we can help) and hold any county permits.
- Keep your payout details and KRA PIN up to date.
- Do not accept private bookings for dates already booked through Mevaj.
3. Our commission
Our management commission is 15% of the rent, unless your schedule states another rate.
- Website bookings: rent means nights × nightly rate, less any discount. Mevaj keeps the cleaning fee and pays for cleaning. VAT, tourism levy and the booking service fee paid by the guest are not your income, and we remit or keep them as the law requires.
- Airbnb and other channels: rent means the payout the channel releases after its own fees.
Example: 3 nights at KES 4,000 = KES 12,000 rent → Mevaj commission KES 1,800 → you receive KES 10,200.
4. When you are paid
- Your share becomes available 2 day(s) after each guest checks out. Once it reaches KES 1,000 it is paid to you automatically, normally that same night, to the M-Pesa number, Kenyan bank account, Paybill or Till in your payout details (in your name or your company's name). You can also request a payout from your owner portal.
- If a booking is cancelled or refunded under our cancellation policy, your share is reduced in the same proportion.
- Costs you approve, or urgent repairs up to KES 5,000 needed to keep the property lettable, are charged to your statement with receipts. Damage deposits or charges recovered from guests are credited to you.
- If Airbnb pays you directly (with Mevaj as co-host receiving its share from Airbnb), those stays appear on your statement for information only.
5. Tax
- Rent from your property is your income. File it with KRA, for example under Monthly Residential Rental Income Tax (7.5% of gross rent, due by the 20th of the following month) or the normal income tax regime. Your monthly statement shows gross rent and Mevaj's fees.
- We deduct rental income tax only if KRA appoints Mevaj as a withholding agent. Any tax withheld is shown on your payout and remitted to KRA under your PIN.
6. Data protection
Mevaj is the data controller for guest information and keeps it confidential under the Data Protection Act, 2019. Your dashboard shows stay dates and amounts, not guests' personal details. Your own data (identity, KRA PIN, payout details) is encrypted and used only to run this agreement and meet legal duties.
7. Term and ending
- Either side may end this agreement with 30 days' written notice.
- Confirmed future bookings will be honoured or moved with the guest's agreement. We pay all amounts due within 14 days of the final check-out.
- We may change the commission or these terms with 30 days' notice, and you will be asked to accept the new version.
- This agreement is governed by the laws of Kenya. Disputes will first be negotiated in good faith, then referred to mediation in Nairobi before any court action.