Does this clause in my lease prohibit me from hosting?

[Nicole497]

"...conducting any type of business (including child care services) in the apartment or apartment community is prohibited..."

I think the answer is "NO" but thought I'd check with you experts!

Nicole

[Nicole497]

I meant to say I think the answer is YES, I am prohibited from hosting...  Again, just checking in.

[Letti0]

@Nicole497  Having an AirBnB would be considered a BUSINESS under your lease. 

[Lawrene0]

Expert advice, @Nicole497, would be to ask whoever gave you that lease. Is that possible?

[Nicole497]

Yes, I'll ask.  Thanks.

[Stay-Asheville0]

I seriously doubt it.   This is renting a space, it's not the same as running a business, for most intents and purposes.

Usually you are permitted short term guests for less than certain periods of time... most residential leases also have a maximum occupancy.  

[Pete69]

Illegally subletting is kind of like J-walking. One of the top hosts in California has made a killing by (illegally) subletting multiple apartments. Sometimes the landlords eventually find out while others don't care.  It's the corporate owned places that are not on the ball and/or don't care if you violate the lease.

Does the contract say anything about subletting? "Conducting business" are gray area words. I think you'd probably get a warning at first. But maybe by that time you've made some good $$. 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

I would think it would depend on whether hosting is considered "conducting business". And you should look at other terms or your rental contract related to having overnight guests, max occupancy,  and subletting or having "roommates". 

[Paul154]

Your Apartment is already a "business" in the business of real estate. Airbnb is the same, so it does not go against the intention of your lease.  

You sharing your apartment with someone is a business only in the sense you receive money.

But the business of housing people is assumed in your apartment contract.

[Paul154]

Pragmatically, the real issue is not the legal techincalities. It is more about your ability to convince the landlord that it is in their interest. Landlords that allow Airbnbs will be able to charge more rent than landlords who prevent airbnbs.

If more money is going into a landlord's pocket, they will very friendly.

[Fred13]

It is there to prevent 'neighborhood disturbance and undue traffic', If you go ahead with it - LOW profile is in order, for starters.

[John1574]

@Nicole497

This is a (rare) case where you are not receiving the best advice from the forum.

This, from a legal/real estate professional:

It would be a very serious lease violation.

Your lease prohibits you from running any business from the apartment you rent as a residence acording to your lease.  It is standard boilerplate language in almost all leases.

If you want to rent and do AirBnB using a leased property, you must find a landlord who would either allow it, or who would look the other way or who would be totally unaware of your activities. 

In an apartment building you may get away with it. 

In a smaller two or three family building or with a hands on manager like myself (;>)  you'd receive a pre-eviction lease viloation notice, and if not remediated, evicition proceedings would begin as soon as legally possible.

Again: It would be a very serious lease violation.

Legal liability for the building's owner, real or percieved, is enough reason for any landlord to prohibit anyone running an AirBnB from a rented apartment.

People do it and get away with it, but only due to lax ownership/managment or kickbacks to corrupt property managers.

I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule, and those who would argue over those exceptions, but as a rule of thumb, you can't use the physical space for business, ie, child care, prostitution, music lessons, teaching, AirBnB, where clients use the space for their profit, if that standard clause exisits in the lease.

If you have no lease, then that landlord is inevitably doomed to fail in the RE industry. 

A distinction should be made for someone who rents an apartment and is, for instance, a self-employed consultant to the tech industry and works from home tele-conferencing, writing and computing. That scenario differes from using the space to serve clients coming and gong physically from the rented space. 

No one evicits a best selling author who rents a space to write his lates tome, for instance, though technically some might insist he is running a business from the apartment.

I hope this is now as clear as mud.  Lol

[Letti0]

@John1574  I agree with you, that's why I stated it's a business under her lease agreement therefore not allowed.

[Fatima-N-Chris0]

Good clear information. What would the solution be to avoid this?  What should their contract say to allow people to rent out their home in an AirBnB type of setting. Thanks in advance for anyone to chip in with some answers.

[Christine615]

I agree with @John1574

I am a landlord and I have a specific clause in my lease the prohibits subletting the apartment without my permission. I had a tenant do that once and I issued an eviction notice after observing a stranger let herself into the building. I asked her who she was and she said "I live here!"

So even if you don't think you are operating a business (you are) you are leasing the owner's space to someone who is not on the primary lease.  That's different than the clause that says you are allowed to have guests (because you are taking money from strangers - not having friends and family stay for free).

Plus - does this involve giving those strangers keys to the property? That's a whole other problem if duplicates are made without authorization.

Do you really want to take the chance?