How often to you check your cameras?

[Gary1337]

I am a neighbor of an air bnb.  I have used this forum many times to answer questions about how air bnbs operate and  hoping to get some more info from the community.  

The neighboring property does have outside cameras and I am curious how often the hosts check them?   We share a driveway and I have had issues with parking along with other things.  I have informed the host before of the issues and he seems completely unaware. Once during a discussion as to why I blocked my property with my truck  I even asked if he looked at his cameras and he said no. There had been a huge party and I was using my truck to block people from coming to my house.  

I have read where some check in the beginning and end of the stay.  Others don’t monitor them and just review them if need be. While some seem to ‘babysit’ excessive movement during the stay.  

Regardless of the relationship we have I just want to ensure his lack of viewing is not standard practice or even required by air bnb for privacy of the guest.  I feel he should be checking the camera more to ensure our shared driveway is open however i do not want to jump to conclusions or place non warranted blame. 

thank you all again.  This forum has been very helpful to help me understand living next to an air bnb.  

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Gary1337 we never check our cameras. Your neighbour though is being really stupid. If we were not close to ourAirbnb we would love a neighbour to keep an eye on it and let us know if the guests were misbehaving!

[Gary1337]

This lines up with my research.  Most hosts seem to really try to  get the neighbors on board especially in our situation where we share a driveway.  Our houses also face each other and off the road.  I am really the only person that can see what’s happening.  Even food delivery has a hard time finding the homes. But unfortunately after a year our relationship is non existent and I do not believe could be mended to much more than ‘tolerable’.  

thank you for your insight. 

[Helen3]

Who knows @Gary1337  every host operates differently 

[Gary1337]

That is the feel I was getting.

thank you.  

[Ana2038 · Accepted solution]

@Gary1337  , we have outdoor cameras on our primary residence, our Airbnb unit (sits behind main house) does not. Since we are on site, there is really no reason for us to check our cameras unless I hear a loud noise or voices….etc…or to check if our guest(s) arrived and got into the unit with no issues. 

The city of San Diego has a great short term rental (STR) program in place. If your neighbor doesn’t seem to care about the ongoings in his property with parties…etc…or disturbances caused to his neighbors, you can report the property to the city. As STRs should be registered and licensed with the city, the city can reach out to the owner and bring this to their attention. Failure to be a responsible STR owner and a good neighbor can result in fines and or STR permit revoked. 

Best—

[Gary1337]

Thank you.  I live outside San Diego in the county and it is the complete opposite as far as rules and laws.  The county doesn’t get involved at all. He is hosting legally. Most complaints get closed once that specific guest leaves in a day or two if they even take the complaint at all.  

This host is off-site and when brought to him the response is a mix between he is not breaking the law, he has made house rules and cannot control others actions or I need to just get used to it as it is not illegal. I have sent registered letters to the other owners with no responses. 

Thank you for your time to respond. 

[Jonathan2534]

I have several cameras outside. I'm mostly concerned about extra people coming to stay, and parties. I check them at the beginning, and if there's an unusual amount of notifications.

We're friendly with our neighbors, they have our number. If there was an issue they could contact us and it would be handled immediately. Your neighbor does not sound very considerate, or neighborly. 

[Gary1337]

Thank you for the response. I do agree he is not the most neighborly but in his defense his front door/shared drive  is the only way to get to back yard that has the pool. This being the case I’m sure he gets notifications all day.   

The more I try to educate myself in hosting it really seems this is just a hard property to manage that would need an excellent host which I don’t believe I have. 

thanks again for your input.  

[Marie8425]

@Gary1337 

Monitoring of exterior  cameras is totally a host decision.

I am full of ideas though so maybe you can play with this idea.

Send a letter ,  people always take letters more  serious then phone calls.  If you have tried to complain before then I  would just take the extra step of sending certified.  Then you have his signature he received.

Focus of the letter  your issue.

Do not waste anytime on telling him how to fix, all you care is it gets fixed.  

Do not threaten,  but   be honest  I  have verbally notified you your Airbnb Rentals  are  causing driveway  issues for me,  I am now formally notifying you in writing the issues  have not been corrected.  These issues are creating an unpleasant environment for my family inn our primary residence.  I would request if you can not correct in 14 days,, that Airbnb be involved to maybe help create  a positive environment.

[Gary1337]

Thank you.   I have already reported to air bnb. And have already sent certified letters.   The 3 co owners did not respond.   The host states I should build a gate.  The gate will help tresspassing but we share a driveway so the gate does absolutely nothing for the shared drive.  

I was very straight forward and to the point every time we have talked.  I have never told him how to fix it but have stated I do not know how to fix it as I am not an air bnb host.  

After continued non action I started researching how to host.  I am now more aware of the options he has available but also still stand by that his property is his business.  I just ask that he does not  use my property for the business and do not restrict me from leaving my house.  

I talked to an attorney and he said I have a case but due to the county laws it would go very far.  Basically just a slap on the wrist and told to be nice.  But would cost about $15k.  
This forum has been a wealth of knowledge to help me understand how properties are usually managed.  I will openly admit that I was angry in the beginning which I’m sure hurt my case.  But most feel it is understandable considering he said the house was for his in-laws, not a STR.  He opened it with zero parking signs, no privacy fences and advertised my driveway as part of the cul-de-sac.  I am much calmer now but the damage is done on both sides.  My attorney, county and sheriff all said I can either live with it, figure out how to make him want to do better or wait until something more tangible occurs then prosecute.

Sorry for the long  reply.  But I have tried just about everything in the book.  But I continue to educate myself.  Just like the camera issue.  I now know it is not really a fault not to monitor the camera.  Just a personal choice.  He may not be going over and above but also is not under performing.  Just doing the minimum.  
I appreciate your input.  Thank you. 

PS I have read a lot of your comments before on issues.  Keep posting!!  They are getting read.  

[Marie8425]

@Gary1337 

That one requires more thought and maybe other hosts  have ideas.

Usually  the post is a Host  complaining Airbnb suspended listing because fraudulent neighbor  complaint.

You  have raised the issue with Airbnb and no  response?

[Gary1337]

I have brought this to air bnb once in a formal complaint and have spoken to them a couple more times. 

The one formal complaint resulted in noise monitors and parking signs.  These are something I feel should have been done in the beginning however air bnb saw this as correcting the issue.  I spoke to them again and it was stated that it would take several complaints before they really get serious. The complaints would need to show the host is the issue and not guests breaking house rules.   Also the main complaint is a shared driveway which is a civil issue and outside air bnb’s realm. I’ve never had a problem with trespassing in 15 years but the answer from air bnb is build a gate.  I have explained that I tried a gate previously and it was not value added.  Although stopped trespassing the blockage of the driveway increased while also increasing my impact now having to operate a gate that’s on a hill.  

At this time I am just building my case and waiting for enough data for court to value added or a situation to arise that he feels he might lose business therefore want to do more than the minimum.  

it is a bad situation however from what I have learned, especially on this forum, this is not the norm for hosts but unique to my situation.   

[Marie8425]

@Gary1337 

That is the key then   ha-ha..    Not  Cameras are   the   noises   monitors  installed    being  monitored?    Are the  no   Parking signs being  obeyed?

[Gary1337]

For the noise monitors maybe???  lol.  I don’t trust anything he says.  I think he does but in the defense of the guests it is a very loud home.  Wood vaulted ceilings, all hard surfaces, mini blinds, arcade games, etc.  it is a large home (2000 sq ft) and the windows are all over 8’ off the ground so my fence doesn’t do much.  Even being over 100’ away it is pretty loud.   Most the noise comes from the back yard which has a pool.  Also he has super bright lights that are one in the back yard 24/7 so people lose track of time. I have my rv parked there to try and stop most of the noise but it is common at leas a few times a month to have entertainment noise to about 12-1am.  

Parking signs are not adhered to.  I even had a gate up for awhile and have a picture of a car parked directly in front of my ‘driveway do not block’ sign.  Haha. People just don’t care.  It is not as bad as it was. Whether he has changed his approach or maybe just lucky.  But then I end up with a situation every so often with zero faith he would do anything even if I called him. 

it’s just a bad situation.  I’ve always taken the high road when a situation presented itself.  Now I plan to take the lowest road.  Haha. I’m not going to go out of my way and he doesn’t live rent free in my head most days.  I can’t tow the guest cars but they also can’t tow mine.  Haha.