Help with my property

[Barri66]

Hi, I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right place but I'm hoping some super hosts might be able to offer some help/advice on a issue I have encountered. 

I have always used airbnb as a guest and always been impressed with how professional and friendly the hosts I have dealt with are, but recent experience has made me reconsider this impression.

Due to personal circumstances I had to leave London but I was unable to sell due to my property being caught up in the cladding scandal. Left with no other option I leased my property out to a tenant with specific clause in the tenancy agreement that prohibited sub letting.

I have recently become aware that the tenant has been renting my property on Airbnb. We advised them that they were in breach of the tenancy agreement but they have ignored the letter and offered no comment. I am now preparing  the necessary documentation to begin the eviction process and I was wondering if there was any way I could get confirmation from airbnb that my property WAS listed and how often it had been rented out. 

I notice there is a long as part of the URL for the listing... They have changed the photos of the listing in question (and in fact have just copied the same photos from their other listing which feels deceitful) and I was wondering if anyone knew if that long number was unique/specific to the listing and remains unchanged so that, even if you edit your listing, the url remains unchanged. 

[Joan2709]

@Barri66 

The long URL is specific to the listing itself and doesn't change. It doesn't matter what you change on the actual listing like the description or photos.

You can copy the the entire string, or just the string up until the word "rooms" followed by the King number and before the "?" For example:

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1111111111111111

[Barri66]

Thanks Joan. I thought that was the case. My tenant (who is legally subletting my apartment) has changed the photos on their listings (identical to their other listing) to try to avoid detection. 

The link is identical and therefore I was assuming it was the same listing with the details edited.

Do you know if it's possible to change the address of a listing (say you move) or will you need to create a new listing for the new property?

[Joan2709]

@Barri66 

You cannot change the address of a listing once you have at least one booking. They would need to contact Airbnb. 

Editing Your Listing Address

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/478

[Joan2709]

@Barri66 

So just to clarify...your tenant is legally subletting your apartment.

This person also has a different apartment they have listed on Airbnb.

You believe this person created a duplicate listing of their own listing and are using your apartment to house the guests?

They could be running a scam where the guest books their listing, and they advise the guest that unfortunately the listing they booked isn't available, but they have another apartment the guest can stay in (your apartment). They of course communicate off platform with guests so Airbnb is not aware. They only time they would get caught is if a guest complains to Airbnb about the switch and of course you eventually get them evicted.

I would go to their listing and click the "report this listing" at a minimum. Another Host in a similar situation started showing up when guests were going to be checking in and advising them of the scam.

[Helen3]

Ask Airbnb to remove the listing. Hopefully you've already served an eviction notice . Take screen grabs of listing and sue for income generated as an STR @Barri66