Guest is threatening my partner and I and will not leave property. Airbnb support ambassador won't reply to any messages or calls.

[Lee353]

My guest started threatening my partner and I last night and somehow figured out we were gay.  We quickly realized the people staying are not the person who made the reservation.  I spent 3 hours on the phone with airbnb last night 9.30p-12.30a trying to get this dealt with.  The support ambassador said they would have the guest leave by 10am today, but now no one will answer me via phone or the app thread.  The guest is still there, though they left 3 hours ago, and left the door standing wide open.  I'm terrified for my safety to go down to the property, but airbnb will not help me.  

I am at my wit's end.  I've hosted thousands of guests over 4 years, and airbnb has totally failed me in the only case I've ever been fearful for my safety.  Does anyone know how to get a response?  I've told them repeatedly this is a safety issue, but they keep saying I have to wait for my support ambassador to come back in, but that may be 3 days from now.  What do I do?

[Lee353]

They've only been at the home for 6 days.  I don't even know that there are laws in Florida around what I'm supposed to do with their belongings or how long I'm supposed to hold them?

[Colleen253]

@Lee353 I agree with Mark. How you proceed  depends on the finer details of this stay regarding the length of it and the laws in your jurisdiction. 

As regards Airbnb, there is no longer a booking so Airbnb is out of the equation and you are on your own. Regarding “without refund” is this true? Was the booking guest not refunded for the remainder of the booked dates? I find that hard to believe. 

[Lee353]

It was a long term stay, so per Airbnb's cancellation policy, they were not refunded the first 30 days.

[Colleen253]

@Lee353 To help things along, you might consider authorizing a full refund for the nights not stayed. You need to do whatever you can to get these people out of your hair. But again, before you make any move, you need to know where you stand legally. Refer to the laws in your jurisdiction. Were these people installed long enough to gain tenant rights? 

[Sarah977]

@Lee353  "Our attorneys have advised us..."

So, they are continuing with threats. No surprise. Chances are, that's just scare tactics. 

As Mark suggests, look up local laws, then take it from there. I kind of doubt that they have any rights regarding their belongings, as since their booking has been cancelled, they would  actually be trespassing to even come onto the property. 

And at this point, make sure you have disabled access to the house, i.e. door codes. Then I would give them a deadline to retrieve their belongings at a mutually agreed upon time, noting that you have no desire to either keep nor dispose of their stuff.  Let them in quite briefly to do that while you stand there with back-up, whether that's 8 buddies, or the police.

And print out hard copies of the cancellation proof and your eexchanges with CS, before that disappears off your Inbox.

[Lee353]

Thank you. Since they’ve only been there 6 days, do they have tenant rights? I have been searching for 45 minutes, and it appears they do not since they were not there for 30 days. 

[Colleen253]

@Lee353 6 days is not enough. GOOD! These people are now trespassing, since there is no longer a booking. I still would suggest you authorize a refund for nights not stayed, just to put out some of their fire. Up to you, of course. Other than that, proceed as though you have people trespassing in your property, which you do. Good luck!

ps, if they keep trying to intimidate you re  the cancellation against their will, keep in mind that it was not a valid or supported booking in the first place, given it was a third party booking. 

[Sarah977]

@Lee353  A person who has only been there 6 days and now has a cancelled booking wouldn't considered a tenant anywhere, as far as I'm aware, but check your local laws, and as with printing out the cancellation if you need to show it to the police, print out the info on what constitutes tenancy.

[Mark116]

@Lee353  I don't think they would be considered a tenant under Florida law, but a transient occupant.

https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/what-are-you-a-hotel-guest-tenant-or-transient-oc...

[Louise0]

The person in your place isn't the person who booked the place using Airbnb.  In other words, they are just a common trespasser.   Given that you didn't agree to have these people on your property and therefore no evidence of any agreement, you would have been within your rights to deal with them as you would any trespasser.

As to Airbnb.  Well, no need to cancel anything.  The guest who made the booking simply never showed up, which means you get paid as usual, for everything, including any cleaning fee.