Property rented without knowledge

[Lee188]

I am not a host. I am not a guest. I'm a homeowner whose property is illegally being rented short term by a company using straw hosts to book guests through Airbnb. If anyone can join me in a suit against Airbnb please email me. [Personal information hidden for safety reasons]

The city of miami beach fines homeowners $20,000 for advertising on Airbnb even if the ad was placed by someone else! HELP! I'm going to the media this week. 

**[Post moved to make new topic - title updated] 

[David126]

@Lee188

Well you can flag the listing to notify AirBnB that it is fraudulent.

Is this where they are trying to get people to pay outside the system? Not sure what the point would be otherwise as a Host does not get paid until the day after the guest checks in.

You might also want to report the matter to the local Police.

[Lizzie]

Hello @Lee188,

Lovely to meet you. I am sorry to hear your frustration and concern here. 

As @David126 mentioned, please do flag this listing to Airbnb so that they can investigate this further. There are a number of different things you can do:

• If you go on to the listing and scroll down, on the righthand-side of the page you will see a 'Report this listing' 
• Also, please contact our Support Team directly and they will be able to assist you with this. They are available 24/7 at +1-415-800-5959 // +1-855-424-7262 (toll-free) or www.airbnb.com/contact. Plus, there are other ways to reach the team shown in this helpful Community Guide. 

Lastly, I hope you don't mind, but I have made your question here into a new topic here in the Help board, so it doesn't get lost in the other discussion. As a result I have had to add a new title, I hope this is fine with you.

I hope you get this all sorted shortly.

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Dave227]

Where did you post it? I can't find a link

[Jessica568]

We are experiencing the same issue here on the 1400 block of Michigan Avenue. We are not hosts. We are not guests. I created this account just to report this. We are getting families at our doorstep, one group of girls with a key! trying to gain access to our home. Our issue here is that there is no listing to flag so our hands are tied behind our back. 

Like Lisa said, citations are issued to homeowners that rent to Air BnB and we are extremely concerned. 

We have not reported anything to the police because we havent found a reason to do so but we have come home to find people snooping in our backyard and its a bit concerning. 

[Sarah977]

How the hell did they get a key?

[Sarah977]

I am not in your position, and I feel for you, I would be livid if someone listed my property without my permission.

Airbnb requires hosts and guests to provide ID verification. There is no reason why when a host first lists, that airbnb cannot (and they definitely should) require that they submit a property title in their name, or a notarized letter of permission from property owners, along with the owners' property title, if the owners are okay with their tenants listing the spare room on airbnb.

Have you contacted the police? Fraud division, if they have one in your area. They might be able to find out who the person is who listed your property and deal with them. If Airbnb starts getting police investigations into their lax vetting, they should be prompted to deal responsibly with this issue. Might be less burdensome than a lawsuit, although that will get their attention as well.

Check for similar post threads on this, there are some. Contact those posters to see if they are interested in a class-action.

[Dave227]

Hi, I have a small house in Las Vegas and rented it out to a tenant who signed a lease. A few days ago the Las Vegas Code Enforcement Division sent me a letter telling me that they found out my house has been advertised and rented out for Short-Term Residential Rentals. I called the number on the letter and was told by the City employee that the fine is $500 per night if all rental activity don't cease without the proper permit, inspecton and license. They even told me the rental is advertised on AirBNB. My property manager informed the tenant to stop and told her that the rental agreement states that short-term rental is not allowed. She ignored the warnings and continue to have the listing on AirBNB. I contacted AirBNB to remove the listing, forwarded the letter to AirBNB's support team but they won't remove the listing. Evan from AirBNB customer experience told me to contact the host and forward the letter to the host. I told them I already did. The Code Enforcement Division told me they cannot help but to hire legal counsel. My question is if I hire a lawyer, what are the chances of me getting the $500 per night fine and lawyer's fees back? The house I am renting out is $1300 per month. At $500 per night fine I simply will not be able to afford it. If AirBNB is taking a fee for this listing, should they be responsible for this illegal activity? Since the tenant is renting out the whole house, if something happens in the house with AirBNB people and the lease is between me and the tenant will I get in trouble with the AirBNB people? I also don't have the insurance to cover the AirBNB people. What should I do?

[Neomi0]

I was a guest in a condo in Miami that was rented out illegally and had to vacate the last day of my trip. The host agreed to refun my last day and cleaning fee and is now ignoring my messages. Air BNB did pay part of my hotel and lyft for the night that I had to find somewhere to go. I contacted Air BNB to get my refund from them on the hosts behalf with no luck. I feel like I should receive a ful refund since it is Air BNB responsibility to make sure these units are legal to rent out. I was told my case was closed and they won't give me a refund. I want to contact a lawyer. I will never use Air BNB again 1st and last time. 

[Helen3]

Of course you shouldn't get a full refund @Neomi0

There was nothing wrong with your stay until the last night.

Getting a lawyer in these circumstances is plain silly.

[Neomi0]

How do u know how the whole stay was? U can sue for anything in this country and illegally renting a condo out is one of them. Please dont comment on something u dont know.

[David126]

@Neomi0

Of course you can sue, this is the US, and they are no shortages of Lawyers who will help you.

Please let us know how things work out.

[Jose344]

Did the letter specify a time limit to cease and desist?   Also, I thought the fine in LV is $1000.00.  

If your rental agreement had an attorney fees provision and damages provision you can recuperate what what you want.   Well, in Calif you could (I'm a Calif atty).   You could seek an unlawful detainer and file it ex parte, assuming NV believes in 911 situations.  Believe it or not I think you could also block Airbnb renters from entering and call the cops if needed.  What they have is a void contract because they dont have "privity" with you and ate this legally trespassers.  

You can also name Airbnb in a fraud lawsuit because they are a de facto landlord with yout tenant.