@Cj24 @Mary419
I don’t have any statutes or precedent handy, but my legal instincts tell me that this is just WRONG, particularly in Mary’s case.
There has to be a limitation.
In contract law, (which is a labyrinthine abomination unto itself,) we often use a device called reductio ad absurdum.
[Anyone who is not fascinated by the perversities of English Common Law can quit reading now.]
So, Mary, suppose you continue your property management enterprise, eventually turn much of the management duties over to your granddaughter, and 50 years from now Airbnb decides that they overpaid you in 2017.
Can they lift the amount of the alleged overpayment from your 2071 account, plus compound interest?
Of course not. Without interest? Still no.
So there must be a time limit. But what would be reasonable?
Five years? I think not. Three years? Does Airbnb not conduct an annual audit by an independent agency?
If they don’t, they are grossly negligent and probably in violation of some statute.
There is an issue of “detrimental reliance” which I would probably investigate first.
Hosts rely on Airbnb’s purportedly expert accountants to pay them that which is due, no more and no less.
Hosts reasonably rely on this.
If they accept payouts in good faith, use said payouts to subsidize their businesses, and are later subjected to confiscation of unrelated assets which impact their businesses negatively, they have a valid complaint.
I’m still thinking, but I do believe that what they are doing amounts to theft of property.
Small claims court is an inexpensive alternative and you have a good chance of winning. Airbnb would probably settle, but even if they don’t, you will cause someone a huge pain in the posterior at a very small cost to you.
NOTE: I am not a licensed attorney, but I play one in my mind.