Guests using guest house to sell drugs

[Jennifer2486]

My last two reservations booked my guest house and I believe set up shop to sell drugs.  They rented 2-3 days, stayed at the property the entire time and had a stream of people coming on the property day & night for short intervals.  Both times were 2 people unrelated and not couples. Left the guest house orderly although it wreaked of marijuana.  I suspect drug sales, because one of the misplaced visitors knocked on my door instead of my guest house with a wad of cash in his hands.  All very suspicious, although I couldn't prove anything.  Makes me hesitant to rent again to those with no reviews.  Has anyone else experienced this?  Is this a model for selling drugs?  It's very unnerving!  

[Sharon1014]

@Jennifer2486  Wow not pleasant, and high risk of future unwelcome visitors (or worse).  I'd be blocking anyone without previous positive reviews, and also stating that only booked guests are allowed on the property, no visitors permitted, at the head of your listing description.

[Jennifer2486]

Thanks for the pointers.  I'm new at hosting.  This really helps.  I'll update my listing and take these actions.  Thanks again.

[Jennifer2486]

Thanks for the pointers.  I'm new at hosting.  This really helps.  I'll update my listing and take these actions.  Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

@Jennifer2486 I also agree that your listing needs a firm rule that no unregistered visitors are permitted at the property at any time. But the harder part is that you need a plan in place for how you will enforce the rule if you catch it being broken.

It is unfortunately common that people use Airbnb rentals for purposes like dealing drugs, prostitution, and illicit parties. It needn't be a disqualifier for the guest to have no prior reviews, but if the profile doesn't give you any useful info, it's important to use the pre-booking correspondence to screen your prospective guests. For example, you may ask about the purpose of their visit, and discuss your House Rules before hitting that Accept button. It's OK to decline if anything seems suspicious or the quality of communication is inadequate, as long as you don't make any statements that could be construed as discrimination based on ethnicity, sex, religion, etc.

You may also state in your review of the guest that you felt unsettled by the large number of people the guest brought onto the property without your permission. But I don't recommend explicitly accusing him of dealing or consuming drugs, as then your review would likely be removed on grounds of defamation. 

[Jennifer2486]

Excellent advice. As a new host, I can see that it’s important to screen more thoroughly beforehand. Both we last minute bookings (within hours) and I can see this was purposely done to limit the scrutiny. Thank you!

[Roberta2]

hi @Jennifer2486 

I was watching TV here in the UK the other night, and there was a special about this.

They call it "County Lines". They use to get teenagers  to run drugs, but they are now using airbnb & free food.

They stay a couple of days in one place, and then move on.

I found this in the guardian newspaper

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/sep/15/airbnb-and-a-free-lunch-how-county-lines-drug-gangs-...

and this at The Times

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/drug-lords-use-airbnb-hideouts-w5xxf7xtb

[Sarah977]

@Jennifer2486  Unless the nature of your listing is that it would mainly attract last-minute bookings, for instance if you were close to an airport and might get a lot of people booking because of a flight delay or cancellation or lay-over, I would not take last-minute bookings at all. You can change your settings to require 1, 2 or 3 days advance notice. Not only does this give you time to vet the guest and communicate with them a bit, it also cuts down on an issue many hosts have experienced- that Airbnb fails to collect the guest's payment (bad credit card or whatever), the guest stays, and the host ever gets paid.

I've had several guests with no prior reviews, and they all turned out to be wonderful guests, but their communication with me during and after the booking process was excellent, so I could get a good sense of what kind of people they were. They also all had clear face photos, which we can't see before the booking is confirmed, but can immediately after, as well as had taken the time to write a bit about themselves on their profiles-all signs that the guest is open and friendly and has nothing to hide.

Also I have a suggestion for your listing description. While you do make it apparent that you live next door, you haven't filled out the section entitled "Interaction with guests". I'd suggest you do that, saying something like "As we live right next door, we are always available to assist you with whatever you might need". This drives home the point that just because it's an Entire home listing, you are right there seeing what is going on.

[George1728]

Has anyone found a way to file a complaint against the company or guest when company/house rules are in violation? Airbnb is distancing themselves from a drug related case, saying the events took place outside the booking dates, which is not true. Have shared overwhelming evidence with them but to no avail.

[Anonymous]

@George1728   Be sure to crop the phone number out of screenshots like this, because you're not allowed to post personal contact information here.

It's quite audacious of a guest to ask their host (David?) how to get drugs, but that looks like a private issue between the host and the guest. I can't imagine what a formal complaint would accomplish here.