how do you stop subletting?

[Fangyuan0]

Hi Guys

I recently had nightmare tenant he pretend to rent out my house on assured shorthold tenancy and claim he is single parent with one child. What I discovered back in March is in fact he is subletting since August 2023 on Airbnb and is running this as full time business opportunity and possibly never lived there for a day.

And now he has stopped paying rent since March 2024 and I finally manage to get the possession order from the court back in September 2024.

then he refused to 'move out' on the date of the possession order, meaning I will now need to get warrant from the court and then bailiff to take possession of the property that he is not even lived in. Because of the slow court system in the UK, it will take at least 20 weeks for this process. In the meantime I can see on Airbnb he is happily generating revenues and taking guests while I need to pay mortgages to my bank.

I have contact the Airbnb support to try to take down the listing with my possession order from the court, however Airbnb is refusing to help, I am not even asking Airbnb to be an arbitrator or verify private contract terms, I have present them with the orders from the court clearly stating that this tenant has to go by x date and the x date has passed.

I am running out of idea now, so this tenant gets to make one year worth of Airbnb listing revenue and not paying a penny to the landlord, and the landlord is subject to mortgage payment at the bank. how can this be fair? what's to stop him from doing the same tactics by just massively ramping up this loophole and exploit more landlords?

Airbnb is not going to do anything, he can simply earns crazy amount of money just by keep sign up to lots of properties and just simply don't pay any rent while keep earning from the platform. this is free money no?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Fangyuan0 Check with a lawyer first but I would rent the property via Airbnb and then change the locks during my stay. That way Airbnb gets lots of unhappy guests and you have possession of your house.

[Fangyuan0]

@Fangyuan0 Thanks! I checked with the lawyer, unfortunately this is not a good option, changing the lock without bailiff and warrant is actually criminal offense for the landlord. This gives tenant more firepower to fight back. There is such ridiculous rules around tenant protection, and this tenant is clearly exploit the loophole and making decent returns with little to no risk. 

[Kia272]

@Fangyuan0  Although it may not be legal, you have to consider that fact that the tenant probably doesn't have the resources or inclination to fight back. You are going to sue him for legal fees, back rent, and all of the profit he made from AirBnB. At least you have to make him think that's what you're going to do. 

What are the repercussions of doing it IF he does file some sort of complaint. A fine? It's already costing you money, and the fine, if and when it comes into play, is likely to be the lesser of many evils generated by this situation. 

I would seriously consider having a friend or relative book your own place, and then taking possession. But you do you. AirBnB is notorious for doing nothing in these situations, or moving so slowly that it's no help at all. 

[Fangyuan0]

Thanks for the advice; however, the stake is too high, and the penalty is disproportionate. The landlord faces criminal prosecution if we change the locks, whereas the tenant only faces civil proceedings (which only face a monetary penalty). I  have a professional job that requires me to keep clean of any criminal records 

[Zheng49]

Yes, it can be difficult to deal with a squatter. That's why I've limited the maximum duration for my listings to 25 days.

Good luck evicting this guest though and keep us updated on the progress. 

The loophole that you've mentioned is indeed used/abused by many. They are called professional squatters. 

[Fangyuan0]

The problem is I didn't actually want to list my property in Airbnb in the first place, I wanted a long term professional tenant, hence this assured shorthold tenancy. But it appears its so simple for people to exploit the system. I think its partly because the court in London are so overwhelmed the timeline to legally get back your property is matter of years not months. Just to layout how the current broken system is:

1. You need to wait for 3 month before you can serve section 8 to evict your tenant

2. Then when you serve section 8 you will need further 6 weeks for court date

3. Then after the hearing, it takes further 4 weeks just to get court to post out the possession order

5. Now the next step is you apply for warrant which is minimum 10 weeks judging by current workload of the court

6. Once you have warrant, you can then book bailiff appointment, which could take further 10 weeks

If you add those up, that's 10 month+ since the last rent payment from the tenant. And meanwhile he is happily extending the booking window further and further. 

This is good business no? Imaging if you sign up 20 properties on assured shorthold tenancy and you can make a fortunate with the help of Airbnb 

[Zheng49]

It's the exact same situation here in Toronto, so I've heard a lot of similar stories.

And yes, professional squatter is a term mostly reserved for long term rental. 

[Helen3]

You have misunderstood @Fangyuan0  @Zheng49  This isn't a guest squatting this is a tenant who is is illegally sub letting . 

[Zheng49]

The subletting by itself isn't a huge issue (at least imo, compared to the squatting). It's the fact that his tenant is also no longer paying the monthly rental fee, which is very akin to what a squatter does.

If the tenant is still paying his monthly dues, but is subletting without permission, then I agree that I have misunderstood. I don't think it's the situation here though. 

@Helen3 

[Helen3]

Sorry you're incorrect -  sub letting for STRs is a huge thing -  it invalidates both the landlords building insurance and home insurance .

If a guest burnt down the house or damaged the property the insurance would decline any claim.

Yes you have misunderstood the tenant is sub letting without permission and the owner has had to take the tenant to court and pay legal fees which is time consuming and costly.  I'm surprised you don't see this as an huge issue. 

if it had been a squatter in the UK it's much easier to get them out as they have no tenancy rights. 

As a Uk landlord as well as a host I have a much better understanding of the impact of this  happening and our tenancy laws and squatters rights  then you do as a US host.  .

[Helen3]

I'm sorry this happened to you. My suggestion is you take copies of every page on the listing including pricing and calendar  and I believe you can take him to court for the money he earnt  (your solicitor should be advising on this) 

i would also suggest you publicly post on all Airbnb's social media channels why they refuse to take down the listing when you have supplied them with a copy of the court order showing you have successfully got a court order against the tenant for subletting on airbnb without your permission .

can I check did you take up previous landlord references , check bank statements to show previous rent paid on time and check the tenants employment references ? This should have helped weed out this sort of tenant (UK landlord as well as Airbnb host here) 

[Fangyuan0]

Thanks! I did all the required references before getting this tenant board. The reference did not flag anything unusual at the time. For the first six months, he paid his rent on time, and there were no issues. Then things turned to the worst. He started to default on the rent, and only then did we find out he was subletting on Airbnb.

I agree that it will take another 20 weeks + for the court system to work, but in the meantime, seeing this listing on Airbnb that is still active and taking books just hits me. I need to use my savings to pay for this mortgage, and this guy is making a fortune at my expense. All the while, Airbnb refused to help and stepped in.  

[Joan2709]

@Fangyuan0 

I would of course listen to your lawyer about options. That said, I'm not advising you to do this without talking to your attorney, but you could have friends and family book long-term reservations, then cancel within the free cancellation period. Be sure they cancel before the free cancellation period ends. This blocks the calendar preventing other guests from booking and this person from collecting anything. This could buy you some time, but eventually he will catch on I would think.

[Fangyuan0]

thanks for the advise, he is been smart only doing non refundable bookings 😞