Tenant subletting

[Sue2543]

Our tenant in London is subletting our property on Airbnb against his tenancy agreement- what is best course of action?

[Joan2709]

@Sue2543 

You will have to take legal action against him to evict for breaking the lease. Unfortunately, Airbnb will not assist in these disputes. 

[Helen3]

Well they will remove the listing. - although people have complained they are slow to do this . @Joan2709 

[Joan2709]

@Helen3 

That's good to know!

I have only heard from other Hosts that Airbnb would not assist them and remove the listing. It is definitely worth notifying Airbnb then @Sue2543 . If this is a whole home listing, then I would check other platforms to see if he illegally listed there as well (Vrbo, booking.com, etc.).

[Helen3]

1. Presumably you've already contacted the tenant and advised him to stop. I would also take a screen grab of the listing and use that to serve them with an eviction notice

2. contact Airbnb and other sites they maybe listing on and ask them to remove the listing 

3. tell the tenant you will be suing them for any income they have made from STRs . 

@Sue2543 

[Joan2709]

@Sue2543 

@Helen3 has some great advice. I definitely would keep screen shots of all the listing info so you have proof this tenant was listing illegally on Airbnb. When you send the cease and desist letter (after consulting an attorney), be sure it is sent certified mail (or the equivalent in the UK). Hopefully you'll then receive proof they received the letter.

Also, if you did a background check, you should have this person's employer info? I would contact their employer and advise he is fraudulently listing your property on Airbnb.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Sue2543 

The only real action is to evict him.. No fault evictions are still allowed and should be quicker than the courts.

You could also make the life of the tenant harder by reporting to the Fire Service that it is unlikely that the property complies with the Fire Risk Assessment rules. I doubt he/she has a fire risk assessment.

2nd idea - What is the Airbnb cancellation policy for the listing. If it is possible then book a couple of weeks yourself and then get a free cancellation.