Easing landlord concerns

[Kyle219]

Hi all,

My fiance and I are currently in a 2 bedroom apartment and we'd like to put the spare bedroom up on Airbnb. We are three months into our twelve month lease agreement and always pay rent on time. We keep the apartment in good condition. I reached out to my landlord to see if this is something she would consider allowing (our lease currently prohibits subletting) and got the following response:

"Unfortunately, we don't allow tenants to have an Airbnb. Last time a tenant did that in another apartment building, the property management was held accountable for the tenant's unlawful actions and tenant was sued and kicked out."

I interpret the message to mean that while hosting on Airbnb, the tenant did something illegal and the property management company got sued. Obviously, we don't intend to break any laws, but I understand how that "good faith" commitment could be jarring for a landlord. Are there protections we could introduce that would ease our landlord's concerns? If I can convince her to permit Airbnb, I'd have a lease amendment drafted prior to hosting so it'd be easy enough to include these protections in the amendment. I anticipated a denial on my initial request so I'd like to come back to her with a) protections for property management should we commit any crimes (again, not our intentions) and b) proposal for profit sharing to make the offer more attractive. Any advice on how to proceed is appreciated.

[Tim-and-Holly0 · Accepted solution]

@Kyle219:

Let me answer your post as both an Airbnb host and a landlord. I operate both types of rentals.

First, the insurance a landlord carries on a rental is not the same insurance that is required to cover short term rentals. STR insurance is usually more expensive; probably prohibitively expensive for an apartment complex.

Expenses increase when we allow extra guests into our homes. Water, electricity, etc. bills all go higher. If your apartment complex is providing any of these items they are looking at additional expense. You mention that you would be open to profit sharing, but splitting the costs on a one bedroom may not make it worth while for either of you.

Operating an STR is operating a business. City and state laws must be followed to include business licenses, occupacy limits, permits, etc. The paragraph your landlord sent actually reads (to me) that a former tenant opened an Airbnb and the apartment management was held liable by the municipality even though it was the tenant who was violating regulations. Thus the tenant was evicted.  

Unfortunately you are fighting an uphill battle. To convince the landlord to allow your STR is to pay for the additional insurance costs, permits and licenses while complying with all laws and regulations. You will also somehow have to negate the headache for the landlord of, "He's doing it. Why can't I?" that they will hear from your neighbors.

[Sarah977]

@Kyle219   I think you should step back and look at this from a landlord's point of view. If the landlord wanted to make more money than what they are doing, renting on a long term lease, they could run the place as an Airbnb themselves. There are, in fact, long-term housing crises in many places because so many landlords are choosing to Airbnb, rather than rent to long-term tenants who live and work in the area. So your landlord, instead, rents long term to people who have to provide references, employment history, etc (I assume you had to do this?) to ensure they have tenants they can trust. 

Do you and your fiance work outside the home?  If so, how do you propose to keep an eye on what potential guests might do in the apartment in your absence? If a guest plugs up the toilet, overflows the bathtub, ruining the floors, scratches up the stovetop, etc, are you going to shoulder the total cost of repairs or are you going to call the landlord or property management co. and tell them they need to send a plumber round? What if the guest invites a bunch of other people over when you're not home and you come home to find the place a disaster? Guests do these kinds of things all the time- I suggest you spend some time reading through the hosting forum. Hosting is far from an easy way to make money.

Your lease clearly states no subletting. You decided and agreed to rent the place under those conditions. The host reinterated this when you asked. I suggest you show some respect for the landlord's wishes rather than trying to come up with a way to convince her to do something she's made it clear she doesn't want.

[Jackie148]

Hi kyle, I think the answers received spell it out to you I am a landlord and airbnb host and if I wanted to airbnb my long term rentals they wouldn't have a rental.

You do have some nerve using a landlords home to bring In extra income to reduce your costs. But I must admit at least you contacted your owner many do not. 

I agree with the others the costs are many to us owners. I constantly check just in case any of my property's appear you may laugh but I'm sure other long term landlords do and If I were your landlord I would be keeping an eye out in case you went ahead and listed just my thoughts. 

[Christine1]

Kyle,

What made you decide that you wanted to Airbnb the bedroom which you don't use, instead of just having another person sharing the flat long term with you?

So are you allowed to have a 3rd person as a regular flatmate? and on your lease perhaps with the consent of the landlord?

Regards,

[Cormac0]

@Kyle219

The problem can be more prosaic then first imagined, the landlord insurance may prohibit Airbnb et al and why should the landlord cover the expense for the extra coverage, so his tenants can profit from his largesse.

Additionally, there’s increased wear and tear from strangers using the apartment on the bases of unfamiliarity with process and systems.

There was a case in Paris France recently where a landlord took a tenant to court for Airbnbing his apartment, the Judge found in the landlord’s favour and told the tenant to pay the entire amount of his Airbnb earnings to his landlord to the sum of Euros 47,000

[Kyle219]

Wow. I appreciate the responses although I must admit I'm a little bit surprised by the hostility in some of them. The Airbnb website has clearly documented resources regarding tenant hosting and working with your landlord. It even advocates specifically for trying to ease your landlord's concerns: "If your landlord declines your request to host on Airbnb, don’t be afraid to ask why. You may be able to address their concerns, help them understand more about Airbnb, or encourage them to partner with you through the Friendly Buildings Program." I've been as transparent as possible with all parties involved and I don't appreciate accusations of being disrespectful or having "some nerve" when I've gone out of my way to develop a proposal that benefits everyone. 

To address the concerns brought up: My landlord already rents units on a month-to-month basis. She explicitly told us that once our lease expires we will not re-sign a new lease but rather transition to a month-to-month model. I'm not sure if month-to-month insurance would be the same type of insurance needed for Airbnb so insight on this issue would be welcomed. We are in a duplex so the potential "he's doing it, why can't I?" headache would likely be limited to one other tenant, if any. We aren't looking for an extra roommate because we'd like control over when guests are staying with us. I understand that I signed a lease prohibiting subletting and that's why I was looking for advice on proceeding with a lease amendment that benefits both parties. If the final decision is still no, then so be it, but I'd feel remiss if I didn't at least outline all of the options.

I appreciate the valid concerns that were raised and I will definitely take them into consideration. I'd encourage others to ask for more information (or keep your negativity to yourself) before jumping to accusations of my character.  

[Sarah977]

@Kyle219 Well, of course Airbnb would be all for tenants subletting- there's nothing surprising about that, they are interested in having as many listings as possible, so as to generate more revenue for the company. And the majority of Airbnb policy makers are quite young- most have likely never owned their own home, so wouldn't see it from that perspective. Advising tenents to try to convince their landlord, who's already said no, is like young teenagers trying to convince Mom and Dad to let them go to that party which their parents have already unequivocally nixed.

Perhaps someday, if and when you can afford to buy a place of your own, you will understand the concerns of homeowners, as opposed to renters. You don't have a major investment at stake- the landlord does.

You didn't respond to letting you know how much damage Airbnb guests can do nor address how you would deal with such a situation. I believe you're only thinking of the money you could potentially make, without doing any research into the "bad scenarios" that happen to tons of hosts on a regular basis. 

[Kyle219]

The point I was making is that tenant subletting is clearly a supported use case for Airbnb. As such, I thought the Airbnb forums would be the appropriate avenue to use if I wanted information or advice regarding the matter. Evidently, I was mistaken.

Setting aside your speculations about my finances and your bizarrely unsubstantiated claim that Airbnb policy makers don't own homes, my previous response states: "I appreciate the valid concerns that were raised and I will definitely take them into consideration." Guest damage is a valid concern to take into consideration. I'm hardly obligated to outline a response plan to anyone but my landlord should we reach that point. This seems to be an increasingly unproductive conversation so I'll redirect my energy elsewhere unless someone offers a valuable response to my actual question rather than trivializing and baseless insinuations. 

[Linda108]

@Kyle219  I understand you were looking for information that would be useful in your negotiations with your landlord and, while you do not like the feedback, much of it is valid.  You seem to be a reasonable, educated person, so I wonder if you can take this feedback and persue another direction.  I don't know whether you have owned property, but it is very different than renting and perhaps not always logical.  You are to be commended for seeking input, so sift throught what you got and find the common thread.  BTW, while your current situation may not be ideal for Air BNB hosting, kudos to you for considering it!

[Kyle219]

Thank you Linda. It seems the general consensus is that this isn't worth further pursuit -- that's unfortunate, but useful nonetheless. My disappointment had less to do with the content of the responses and more to do with the delivery of them. I appreciate your advice and will continue to explore other avenues.