Tenant subletting to airbnb illegally

[Lea3271]

I have learnt this week that my house, without my permission, is being advertised as a holiday let on the airbnb.com website.

I have reported this to airbnb customer services and to the CEO and various members of the airbnb board, but the listing remains....so I'm seeking advice from anyone who's had success in resolving this with airbnb.

The house was rented, under a England "Assured Short-term Tenancy" contract to an individual.  The terms of that signed contract very expressly forbid any form of subletting, and were for the use of the home as the primary residence of that person only.

However, I have since learnt that this person provided fraudulent employment references, and has been illegally using my house as a holiday house let for 9 months.   Aside from the breach of the tenancy contract conditions, this “holiday house” letting is also in breach of local council authority property licencing conditions and is in breach of national fire and gas safety regulations.  In short, anyone staying in this property advertised on the airbnb website, is doing so illegally, and with grave risk to their health and safety.

A “cease and desist” notice in addition to an eviction notice have been served on the “tenant”, the London Metropolitan Police have been notified, and we have legal counsel working through civil actions spanning (but not restricted to) fraudulent employment misrepresentation, profits clawback from illegal sub letting, and property alterations and damage that far exceeds the tenancy deposit (evidenced from online review photos from paying guests and photos collected from my investigative team).  

At this point, my next step is to share this with a number of journalists - maybe some media coverage pressure will resolve the situation?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Lea3271 Your issue is with the tenant not Airbnb. It is the tenant that is acting contrary to their contract. Oh and by the way - The guests are doing nothing illegal - The host is and I am sure he will be evicted as soon as the courts get around to it.

[Lea3271]

Not quite true.  When airbnb do not properly verify a "host", they are putting guests (and indirectly property owners) at risk.  And in this instance, if it happens that airbnb did the right thing with verification, but have since been advised that documents supplied were likely fraudulent, the company should indeed be taking action.

Additionally, when 8 people are allowed to stay in a house that is licenced for only 2 (and does not have the fire doors or exits required for so many guests) lives are literally at risk.  Again, whilst airbnb cannot police the number of guests, the company should be taking action when this type of discrepancy is flagged to them by a genuine property owner (and the guest review comments).

You are correct that the guests are doing nothing illegal.   However, do you want to be the unknowing guest who has your holiday cut short when police and/or bailiffs show up to repossess the property?  Or to be stuck in a property that clearly isn't as advertised, or that isn't as safe as you'd assume it would be?   Tenant subletting without permission is indeed a problem that airbnb should be paying attention to - there are now multiple cases now of tenants being successfully sued, when this type of fraud is involved.  Perhaps it's a matter of time until a class action for negligence lands with airbnb....