Host entered premises without asking permission

[Schneur0]

My host notified me via email, that when they stopped to take mail from the outdoor mailbox, they noticed some lights on and went in quickly to shut the lights as to conserve energy and costs.

Without asking!

We happened not to be there at the time. Possible they knocked before entering to see if someone was home.

Is this crazy? Is it against rules? Law? 

Any suggestions? 

Thanks!

[Sarah977]

@Schneur0   Hosts should always let guests know if they want to enter the property when guests are there. A message to you, like "Hi Shneur, we came by to pick up mail and noticed a lot of lights on in the house, and you appeared to be out. Would you mind turning out all but a few necessary lights when you go out, please. Thank you."  I'm sure they didn't just use their key to go in without knocking to see if there was anyone home.

But no, it's not "crazy" nor against any "law". 

An exception would be if the host saw smoke billowing out, or water, like there was some emergency situation, of course they would deal with it ASAP without necessarily contacting the guest in the moment.

Schneur, there are many guests who leave all the lights on, leave the AC turned up high, with windows open while they are out all day, leave the shower water running hot while they walk around getting their clothes or whatever- hosts do appreciate it when guests don't use up utilities unneccesarily. 

[Schneur0]

Thank you so much for taking time to respond.

While I do understand the idea of conservation, that is not my focus in my question.

I actually just did some research online.

It seems the law varies by state. I am in New York. In NY State, a landlord may not enter rental property without permission, unless for an emergency.

Accordingly, it would be against a "law".

[Sarah977]

@Schneur0   Then I stand corrected. But I also think there may be some differences between the laws regarding short term rentals vs being a long term tenant.

[Schneur0]

That's why I was asking the hosts of Airbnb. Perhaps they are well versed in these laws. Or perhaps there is a clause in terms and conditions that I missed, and someone can point it out. Though I think it would be far fetched for Airbnb to clearly allow their hosts to enter properties to shut off lights or the like.

When you're renting someone your space, your giving them privacy. Sometimes for a few months, sometimes for a few hours. No difference. It should be unacceptable by anyone for a landlord to come in without getting prior permission. Nobody home does not make it more acceptable. Especially when you can't even verify that no one is there, just because the door wasn't answered.

That's why I think it's crazy, and perhaps, or even probably, illegal.

Thanks again.

[Sarah977]

@Schneur0   Yes, of course hosts should respect a guest's privacy. I never enter my guest's room or bathroom during their stay, unless they ask me to for some reason.

But I have read on these forums where hosts in a shared home, asked their guest politely many times to please turn out the lights in their room when they go out, or not leave the AC running, or the heater turned up high (that was actually a safety concern, rather than just wasted utilities) and the host finally went in to do it because the guest simply continued to ignore the requests.

These hosts you have really don't seem like they were intending to invade your privacy, or piss you off, and they did let you know that they came in to turn out the lights. Rather than get all upset and "legal" about it, how about just messaging them to let them know that you felt your privacy was disrespected and that if they need to enter for some reason in the future, to please let you know ahead of time.

None of us, hosts or guests, are perfect and we all make errors in judgement sometimes.