Complaints from neighbors

Angela431
Level 2
Toronto, Canada

Complaints from neighbors

Hello

I have been hosting only for two months, and it's going really well.

I am renting the entire house with 6 bedrooms, so most of my guests are big group and some of my guests have been too loud at night and I have been getting complaints from neighbors.

I have talked to the neighbors, explained what I'm doing with my house, and apologized about noise problem.

After that I interview my guests before accepting any reservations, and talk to my guests about noise issues during their stay as well.

However, my neighbors sent me a letter saying that they oppose to use of the house as Airbnb because it destabilize the neighborhood. Most of my neighbors are seniors who lived there for a long time and very very quiet. They simply don't want any strangers walking down the streets and making noise.

The neighbors report my house to municipal officials, but I'm not doing anything illegal here.

How can I resolve this? I got a call from municipal officer about the report, and they just warned me. But what if they keep reporting my house then what happens next? Can they shut down my business?

Please share your experience.

Thank you

20 Replies 20
Lilian20
Level 10
Argelès-sur-Mer, France

hello @Angela431 i guess the answer all depends on the country you're living in, my feeling is that a house owner is not responsible for guests disturbing the neighbourhood or anything else the guests could do. 

You are an **bleep** neighbor if you feel you have no responsibility to your neighbors for your guests!

 

Kate157
Level 10
SF, CA

Hi @Angela431 I only allow 2 guests at a time. If you have big groups, my feeling is, you are asking for trouble, especially if you are not on the premises. Many places have noise ordinances, and if these are consistently broken, I think you will have a problem, and you could be shut down. Your guests are your responsibility to the extent that if they negatively impact your neighborhood, and your neighbors are persistent in their complaints, it will not go well for you, as many city officials carry an anti-Airbnb bias anyway.

Isabel203
Level 10
Halifax, Canada

Tough situation, @Angela431, and I don't have any ideas for quick solutions, I'm afraid.  I can certainly understand your neighbor's perspective - and renting a whole house to 6 guests is likely to invite parties.  In Canada, I believe the general principle is that the home owner is responsible for anyone he or she invites onto the premises. So, that would make it your problem when your guests are disrupting the neighborhood.  

Paul154
Level 10
Seattle, WA

I could share my experience, but it won't be nice.

I have bought many houses.

Neighbors ALWAYS tell me what I can and cannot do on MY

 property.

"You can't build up" (I could)

"You can't park on the street in front of my house" ( I could)

YOU CAN'T CHANGE MY NEIGHBORHOOD, BECAUSE I DON'T WANT YOU TO!!!

Neighbors are greedy, just because they think they can be. To them, it's free.

Fortunately, we live with a Constitution that allows PRIVATE ownership and due process.

As for your neighbors, I don't have a lot of advice. Bring them baked goods? Ask about their children?

Feel them out. 

Do they have LEGITIMATE concerns? or are they just lonely?

Smile and be firm in your ownership rights.

In general, beaurocrats hate dealing with these neighbors' complaints just as much as you do.

Good luck

 

 

P.S. You are NOT the evil monster they are trying to impune.

You are offering housing to people, not destabilizing the neighborhood.

THIS IS NOT A CRIME.

Their greed is the real crime.

Good luck

@Paul154  Bring them COOKIES????? Are you effing kidding me?????   How would you like your tenants in your backyard???  I worked HARD to pay for and build a house that I love in a (used to be) quiet beach community.  Now I have an airbnb which is decked out like a beach bar rented to spring breakers.  Crap in my yard, noise until 4:00am, hostile guests when I ask them to keep it down.  My office and bedroom look over the pool and yard, and noise and nastiness just flows right in.  Cannot enjoy the Florida outdoors since this airbnb opened.  Constitution, due process, what about MY RIGHT TO QUIET ENJOYMENT OF A PROPERTY I WORKED HARD TO ATTAIN??????

Lilian20
Level 10
Argelès-sur-Mer, France

Thank you for your common sense @Paul154  - it s appreciated 

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

I can't agree with @Lilian20. Of course it is our responsibility as hosts to be good neighbours and minimise the risk our business impacting on our neighbours and local community.

 

What have you done so far in addition to tightening up your house rules?

 

Do you have video's at the property to see who goes in and out and monitor noise levels outside?

 

Do you have a co-host or do check people in and out and reinforce the house rules including noise levels.

 

If guests break your rules around noise do you talk to Airbnb to ensure they leave?

Angela431
Level 2
Toronto, Canada

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and opinions.

I realized I still have a lot to learn about managing skill as a host.

I live in Toronto Canada, and I do have very strict rules about noise, and of course I check on people during their stay.

I interview guests before accepting a reservation to avoid party people.

Now most of my guests are families from other countries who came to travel.

Anways, I guess I should try harder to satisfy my neighbors.

Thank you all again for your replies.

Joanna85
Level 10
Las Vegas, NV

I live in a city neighborhood, not an HOA, and my neighbors act like we live in a armed-guard gated, totally hoity-toity, exclusive neighborhood.  It is city parking and my neighbors go TOTALLY nuts when they see a car parked on the street for more than ten seconds they don't recognize.  They are entirely too ridiculous.  Even one of my neighbors goes to the city council meetings to object to EVERY SINGLE application for a short term rental within a five mile radius to his home..!  I do agree that we as hosts have a responsibility to make sure we are not letting drugs and criminal activities knowingly in our homes, but the rest...parking on a city street or coming and going or simply using your home how you wish if you are following the laws...that is still ok last I checked and it really is nobody's business.

Jonathan6
Level 10
Mamaroneck, NY

Does your listing include "Quite Times"?

 

Guests need to be respectful of the surroundings; this is not just sound, but being clean and courteous. 

 

You may consider in your listing to have “Quite Times” clearly posted and in your instructions and in the unit.  If this is a persistent problem then take a security deposit and advise guests if they violate the house rules they will forfeit their deposit.  You can then advise your guests that they will forfeit the deposit if you receive a complaint.

 

At the same time, make sure your neighbors have your contact information and have them contact you before contacting the police. 

 

Try to be nice you are a host and they are your guests and good customer service gets repeat business, make sure your Quite Hours instructions are written in such a way that your guests are likely to respect it.

Good Luck,

@Jonathan6 Airbnb will not collect the security deposit for breach of host's rules, period. You can threaten it, but it will not be a reality. A host would be forced to try to collect the money from thei guests, and well, good luck with that!

I live in Dallas, next door to a set of 4 townhomes.  The owner of all 4 lives in California.  The "host" lives in New York. No one is present to enforce any rules at this 'hotel' next door.  Advertised to sleep up to 16 people -- these units have 3 bedrooms each, with multiple bunk beds.  This invites partiers.  Noise and traffic congestion are a frequent problem as is litter scattered throughout the neighborhood. Late night arrivals frequently mistake my location next door to the AirBnb units.  Activities go on there that would never be allowed in a real hotel.  People trample through my yard and have twice broken sprinkler heads.  Guests have approached my neighbors trying to obtain drugs.  One guest was brandishing an AR-15 outdoors.  Some guests make catcalls at girls walking in the neighborhood from the balconies.   Police have been called dozens of times.   I could go on, but I think you get the picture.  [There are occasionally responsible guests, too -- for whom I have no complaints.]    Judging from many of your comments above, I suppose most of you people think I have an unreasonable expectation to be able to sleep through the night and to feel safe in my residential neighborhood.  What would you do in you were in my shoes????

 

A couple of weeks ago one of the guests backed out of the garage and damaged my fence.  Who's gonna pay for that?  The guest who has already left?  The owner in California who has never responded to any contact I've tried to make?  The "host" in New York?  AirBnb?  You tell me!