AirBnb Bad Actors

Belinda251
Level 2
Redwood City, CA

AirBnb Bad Actors

THE most advantageous support that we as hosts can get from AirBnB is to be able to tell our communities that the bad AirBnb hosts will be taken off the site.  So many of us in Tahoe who have been responsible short term rental hosts (me, for 10 years) are now at risk of losing ALL AirBnbs in the area.  This is because of the bad actors that are destroying us.  I am sure this is true all over the world.  

 

I was so encouraged to see this policy stated on the AirBnb site:   "Guests who violate this policy are subject to suspension or removal from Airbnb’s platform. We may also remove listings if we determine a host has authorized a party that violates this policy. In addition, if we receive reports that a listing is disrupting the surrounding community, we may request the host update their rules or suspend the listing. "

 

I have not had one complaint in ten years from those neighbors who live next to my condo.  The entire AirBnb platform is put at risk by the bad hosts that need to be dealt with.

 

Please help all good hosts by telling us how to support this effort.  Delisting is the BEST way to get rid of the bad guys who are killing the rest of us.  

 

This is the biggest problem we are facing.  We are being attacked in our communities as obnoxious and destructive.  HELP us here.

 

How do I get this message to the AirBnB executives?

 

Belinda

1 Reply 1

@Belinda251 

 

'Bad actors' are the single biggest threat to the survival of every small, independent legitimate host on the platform and you're correct - they're not only operating in Tahoe, but the whole world over. 

 

Up until relatively recently, they were primarily operating in (and destroying) major cities, but they've completely over-saturated those markets and bled them dry some time ago, and are spreading out now to swamp the secondary and even tertiary markets, to do exactly the same there. 

 

In the majority of instances, these guys pass themselves off as 'professional property management' companies - and some even manage to reach mega-host status, due to attracting tens or even hundreds of millions in 'investor' funding. Invariably, they have one thing in common - vast inventories to punt out on the Airbnb platform. 

 

Unfortunately, despite Airbnb's disingenuous claims that they will deal with 'bad actors' swiftly and effectively, nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, the company has proved time and again that they're perfectly happy to turn a blind eye to their wrongdoings, transgressions and illegal activities, as long as they're bring home big bacon. 

 

Occasionally, when a particularly tenacious reporter launches an investigation and exposes them in the media, Airbnb is then forced to take action and delist the offenders from the platform. But oftentimes, even public exposure is not enough for them to be permanently removed. 

 

Fraudulent Activities, Illegal Listings - Why Was ... - Airbnb Community

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Fraudulent-Activities-Illegal-Listings-Why-Was-This-Mega...

Penelope