I am concerned that the person I'm renting from long term is going to try to get me kicked out. I have done nothing against Airbnb rules nor the house rules, but I anticipate that she may retaliate by lying to Airbnb such as saying she has an emergency and needs the property.
Apologies for the long post, but I want to cover energy angle.
I'll give the background, leading up to the most recent incident, all of which leads me to expect a passive-aggressive move against me. The end of the post after "So..." is the breakdown of what I see as my potential options.
First, here's why I'm concerned. I'm an expat who works remotely. I've lived a few years now in Airbnb properties with long-term stays. I have consistently high host reviews, almost all of which state my cleanliness (I like cleaning for myself as I am very private, and it also keeps a sense of normalcy in my life to have the same daily schedule, including self-care activities, no matter where I live). I have lived in this particular city for over a year, and this is my second long-term stay here. The stay ends in December, I'm half way through. I don't want to stay in this city, but I'm not prepared to leave until December, and I don't want the hassle of finding another property that meets all of of my specific needs and wants. I just want to enjoy peace and groundedness in my last three months as I have the past year and three months. Moving early is more effort than I want to expend, for a variety of reasons.
Here's the background with this host, which leads up to the current issue and cause for concern. Every time she needs or wants something, it always begins with a plea to my ethics. I'm very direct and honest, and such pleas set off red flags of passive-aggression. For instance, she didn't want me cleaning for myself when I asked in advance of moving in, she wanted the maid to come every week to disinfect for COVID -- I guessed that this is actually to have someone keep an eye on her property, but she denied that until later when I was sick and needed to isolate two different times. The first time she said okay but cleaning is for my benefit to replace toilet paper, etc., and she said the second time would be the last because she needed someone to keep any eye on the property (!). I still clean for myself, but there are a few things I don't like to do, so I only have an hour of cleaning a week rather than four, and she's been okay with that. (In fairness to her, after a couple months I told her I was out going to pay $2.50 for the cleaning rather than $10 as i only use an hour, but apparently it's part of her agreement with the building to pay a set amount each week, as she said she would pay the extra $7.50. So, she's not totally rigid.)
The day I moved in, two hours prior, she stopped responding to phone calls, text messages, and communications through the platform. I had a question I needed answered about a kitchen item, I already had one I'd bought for the previous stay and didn't want to haul it if I didn't need to. No answer. I needed to know something about the check-in. No answer. I arrived earlier than I anticipated (which was not too early for check-in) and didn't know if the person checking me in needed to be notified. No answer. I got checked in with no problems. Once in the unit, I needed the wi-fi code so I could work. No answer. Sent several messages about it to her phone and through the platform. No answer the next day. I finally found the wi-fi code and notified her. No answer. After that, she became available again whenever she needed to contact me, and has been available for the rare times I need anything (I'm very self-sufficient, I almost never need anything from a host).
A month or more after I moved in, I got a message from her that, due to these difficult financial times (the appeal to ethics and emotions), she needed to put the property up for sale, and would I be okay that she needed to show it. Althought I don't have to be, I've been very accommodating. I've sold my own home before, I know how important appearance is. I've tided for the photographers (twice as the first time they had to cancel through no fault of their own) and for two viewings. I only asked to be given 48 hours notice each time. The second viewing, there was no representative, and the people asked me questions, which is difficult for me as I'm only somewhat fluent in the language, but I didn't complain about it, I try to not be a jerk and complain about small things. After the second viewing, she offered to refund me $100 at the end of my stay, which I thought was very ethical. I told her thank you and I accepted. She did not send an offer through the platform, and I now have the feeling I will never see it. I'm letting it go. It's too petty to make a big deal out of, but the current concern is why I think I won't see it, should i make it to the end of the stay.
The only cause she's ever had for genuine concern was when the rent was due for my second month. I had already transferred money to my account for the withdrawal, but Airbnb reported that they could not complete the transaction. Of course she was concerned. But the money was there. I also could not access my reservation from the platform, there was a problem with the online system, and I'd experienced the platform issue many times in the months leading up to this issue. She told me she hoped the issue was resolved the next day, I told her it was my goal to have it resolved that same day, and I was finally able to access my reservation, resubmit my payment, and it went through immediately. Since then, both subsequent payments have gone through. Otherwise, I give no cause for concern. There are many employees in the building, there are security cameras, all of which can attest that I never have guests, I live quietly, I keep the space very clean, and I am overall a conscientious guest. Because I live in Airbnbs and like the convenience of the platform as well as the variety of choices for places to live, I want to keep a good reputation and be in good graces with the company. So far I've had one mutually negative review, and have many excellent reviews.
Now the most recent event which has given me the greatest cause for concern. She emailed me that she'd gotten the power bill, that they always ask guests to be mindful of energy usage, that the bill had never been that high, and would I be willing to help them out with approximately $45 US.
I really thought about it and tried to consider it from several angles to be fair and balanced. I told her that there was nothing about energy usage in the rules, but that I did find some printed rules in the unit which said to turn off the AC in a room when not in a room, and I do that. I happen to spend a lot of time in the room, but I always make sure to keep the door closed to not make the AC unit work harder. I explained that many hosts have rules that state if a guest goes over a certain amount of usage that they will have to pay the extra, and that while I have empathy that she didn't anticipate this issue (she's not a new host btw), it is not my responsibility to protect her. I pointed out how accommodating I've been about showing the property even thought I didn't have to, and that she had offered the $100 refund, so that it was no longer an act of generosity on my part, but that things were in balance between us. In the spirit of being fair and balanced, I would offer her a compromise: with the exception of when I am sleeping, I would be willing to turn off the AC when the room was cool enough, and turn it back on when the room started to get too warm, rather than maintaing the temperature for my comfort and convenience. I ended the email with a question: Do you accept my offer of this compromise?
Her response: "Do whatever your consciousness tells you to do."
I made a direct and reasonable request, to which there are only three possible answers: yes, no, or counteroffer.
In my life experience, I got hit in her response with a passive-aggressive move, and in my experience with the host, I got hit with the usual appeal to ethics. Frankly, we have a business contract through Airbnb, and my morals are not included as under her influence or control. Because of the repeated passive-agressions, I reasonably anticipate that when the next power bill comes in, if not before, that she's going to attack. Because I have not broken any rules and do nothing that could be a reason to kick me out, I anticipate she's going to do something like lie to Airbnb and say she has a sick relative and they need to stay in the space, or that something happened to her home and she needs to live in the space, or something else that will get me kicked out so that she doesn't look like she's breaking the contract. She may have a small penalty, but she can use another platform to rent the space, and she's trying to sell the property anyway, right? This is how I'm trying to logically figure out her stance. If she does something like this, then I'll have to make the effort of packing and finding another space that fits all of my needs in very short order. But I'm also not going to bend over and spend money I dont owe just to keep her from doing this. I have been ethical, and I'm not going to take on a responsbility that is not mine just for her personal convenience and comfort. Perhaps I'm being self-biased, I try not to be, but I believe I show appropriate appreciation by paying my rent on time, keeping the space very clean, and following all of the rules, and I told her this in my response where I was trying to work out fairness and balance. I've never once complained to her about her behaviors, not even when she didn't respond at check-in. I've never struck out at her for any reason. The closest I've come to criticism was to say I won't take responsibility to protect her when she did not protect herself.
So...
What can I do to protect myself in anticipation that she will lie to get me kicked out? It's my understanding that if the host makes a claim to get out of hosting the stay and it's within the rules, such as an emergency circumstance, then Airbnb will side with the host. Is there any possibility that by talking about it here, I've preemptively protected myself? Or am I just likely going to have to deal with the sudden inconvenience of having to move if that is her whim? I don't trust that if I tell her my concern, she will honor my concerns, but perhaps discussing this fear in messages with her via the platform will give me some protection? Or will Airbnb just not care? (She can of course keep the $100 she offered and it will equal the overage she would want me to pay for six months, but I have the feeling she's not going to view it like that, but instead go for revenge rather than balance, even though technically it's not balance if I didn't break a rule, only financial balance. Still, I could accept that, but I sense it won't be enough for her. Amd I'm not motivated to offer it as a compromise, but will be open to it if she does.) Any other suggestions I haven't considered?
P.S. Hosts, I respect you and your property. I've been a homeowner. I helped someone set up their airbnb and even hosted a guest for them. I have 25 years of customer service work experience at the lowest and highest levels. I get your challenges. I make sure to not be a demanding guest, I only want what is promised and contracted for, and to experience privacy and mutually respectful treatment. I appreciate any advice you can give me in this situation based on your experiences with airbnb, with guests, and with other hosts.