Condo Board Sent me a notice to stop hosting

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Condo Board Sent me a notice to stop hosting

I have to cancel my reservations starting in a week after recieving a notice from my condo board.  What is the best way to do this?  Does this count as an extenuating circumstance?

 

A real bummer, I was having a great time hosting and meeting people.

 

Thank you

1 Best Answer

@Alexander, you could try to talk airbnb into considering the cancellations as caused by the same event and error and that they should apply only one penalty to all of them, not one to every single one. You have understandable cause for your error and it would encourage you to continue hosting with the same account and on airbnb.
Call them and keep trying. Try to get a case manager or get higher up and plead your good will. That you tried to minimise damage to guests and airbnb image should help, insist on that.
When the airbnb founders started to lodge students on an airbed in their living room, they did not have permission to do that either. Their "illegal" idea is worth billions today.

Unfortunately, this forum is getting more hostile by the day. And I could not even say if the unsolicited attacks are worse or the unmotivated All-is-well-be-happy nonsense the same people post on other triggers. It's just pavlovian reflexes is action.
I'm very sorry that you got that straight off when asking for help.
Good luck for your negotiations!

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84 Replies 84
Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Alexander15 Sorry Alexander, this is definitely not an extenuating circumstance....in fact it is one we see on the CC on an almost daily basis.

Airbnb, specifically asks you if you have approval to host from Landlords, Condo managers and other principals and it is up to you to be truthfull. In fact they go as far as to say, If you do not own your own property you must have all relevant approvals prior to submitting a listing.

 

You will be hit with a cancellation fee for each confirmed booking that you cancel, and you will have an automated response put on your review window for each booking stating that you cancelled a guest booking, and that will put your superhost status out the window for at least the next year!! Although just yesterday I did read of another host who had exactly the same situation as you have and Airbnb did release him without an immediate fine but they stated they would take accrued fines from his future bookings if his account remained open! 

 

It is up to you to do your homework Alexander, and it does annoy me that people will trash the effort that other quality hosts put into the Airbnb principal simply to make a quick buck on the side. You reflect on us all....potential guests don't trust Airbnb!!

It's probably a fair bet you didn't have any form of sharecover, or hosting insurance either, which would have meant that any liability issues would not have been addressed by the Condo's (or your) insurer as they have a habit of cancelling general insurance if they find out short term sub-letting is taking place. You not only put yourself at severe risk you put other Condo owners who do the right thing at risk!

This question comes up so often, and I dare say what we see here on this forum is possibly just the tip of the iceberg. I have said it before and I will say it again.....Airbnb must start to enforce some compliance standards with listings or we will all suffer.

 

No sympathy I am afraid Alexander....you are the sole architect of your current dillema.....cheers....Rob

Robin, your response to Alexander was unduly hostile. You treated him like a criminal who was aware of the HOA or other rules and he "desrerves what he got". He may be ignorant, so you could have just made your explanantion to educate him without firing missles at the poor guy! Don't make assumptionms about those you have never met in ytour entire lifetime. Remind me never to do any business with you in the future.

Momi0
Level 10
Honolulu, HI

Dear @Alexander15

 

I would like to add on this as I am in the legal field here in Hawaii.  (adding to what @Robin4 so eloquently wrote)

 

It really troubles me as a homeowner and a LANDLORD when tenants break the lease rules /condo rules/ Airbnb rules.

 

Please make it your business and rental responsibility to understand what you are doing to the homeowner as well.

I have been accessed over $500 in fines for what my tenants have done.  And of course, I now have to seek getting that monies back from my tenants who broke several rules of the condo association because as their landlord, (and homeowner), I am the one held accountable to my Homeowners Association for anything my tenants do.

It is incredibly irresponsble on your part to not have read the rules on both Airbnb AND the condo association which 99.9% of them have clearly stated in their CONDO association terms and conditions on what is allowed and what is not.  It is also your landlords duty to give you a copy of that book.  If you didn't receive it, I recommend that you ask for it in the future should you move to a new place. 

 

Guess what else is not allowed at my rental place?  Pets!  And yet, my tenants decided to sneak one in and destroyed my entire carpet which was only 4 years old.  Guess who doesn't live in my condo rental unit anymore.  You could actually be evicted over this.

 

Also, I think it would be very kind and mature on your part to write a letter TO EACH BOOKED GUEST explaining that you are being required to cancel because you didn't follow the rules of the condo building association rules, so the Airbnb guests doesn't blame this on Airbnb which I have seen many times on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.  At least take the responsbility to do that.  Please.  

If you feel that me or another host have helped you, feel free to click on the "thumbs up" button at the end of any post. Thank you so much.

Aloha, Momi

Great way to contact Airbnb or via Twitter at AirbnbHelp / Facebook


Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Momi0 Thank you Momi....well said....cheers.....Rob

Greetings Momi and Robin-

 

I appreciate the time it took you to write a response to my inquiry, if not necessarily the somewhat off-topic content or snarky tone.  Granted, I should have expected as much, seeing as this is, after all, an internet community, and a good dose of Holier-Than-Thou is par for the course.

 

I suppose I will elaborate on my situation a bit, for better or worse.  I am renting the apartment from my friend, who is the owner.  I never recieved any Condo Association rulebook or guidelines when I moved in.  It was he who had the idea, and encouraged me, to post the apartment on Airbnb, as I am quite often not occupying it.   Seeing as my legal landlord encouraged me to post the apartment on Airbnb, I did not inquire as to whether this was violating a general building policy that I was unaware of.

 

After recieving notice from the Condo Association that I was in violation of the rules, (I can rent on Airbnb for 30+ days, it seems, but not less) I have started cancelling my reservations.  Since I am not an complete scumbag, and actually quite a decent person, I am sending an apology to each person, letting them know that their funds are available immediately to rebook on Airbnb, or can be 100% refunded online, and furthermore hoping that this experience does not reflect poorly on the good people of Airbnb or the city of Portland.  FURTHERMORE (Momi, let me know if caps are necessary, or just somewhat condescending...), I am directing each guest to another similarly priced Airbnb booking in Portland and offering assistance with neighborhood choice if they are not familiar with the city.  So far it is going well, and the guests are thankful for my help. 

 

I understand that you two probably see this situation quite often, but am quite put off by the tone of your replies.  I can't help but point out that, in case you are wondering why you see this situation repeatedly,  Airbnb makes it extremely easy to list an apartment, with only a halfhearted, if any, attempt to bring up issues that may have legal ramifications to hosts.  And why not?  They are a large corporation and the more people that host, the more money they make, and the more exposure.  I am now faced with $1000 in penalties for a situation that is a legal and ethical grey area, at best, for yours truly.  I can host for 30+ days (will be checking the heretofore unknown to me Condo Rules just to make sure), but will be hit with these fines taken out of any future earnings.  Is there an appeals process here, or just a community of hosts going "tsk-tsk" and shaking their heads? 

 

Momi, I am sorry about damage to your condo caused by tenants, as well as PETS, but am confused as to the relevance, unless you intended your reply to be a general rant on people not following the rules. 

 

With Aloha Spirit,

 

Alexander

 

 

@Alexander, you could try to talk airbnb into considering the cancellations as caused by the same event and error and that they should apply only one penalty to all of them, not one to every single one. You have understandable cause for your error and it would encourage you to continue hosting with the same account and on airbnb.
Call them and keep trying. Try to get a case manager or get higher up and plead your good will. That you tried to minimise damage to guests and airbnb image should help, insist on that.
When the airbnb founders started to lodge students on an airbed in their living room, they did not have permission to do that either. Their "illegal" idea is worth billions today.

Unfortunately, this forum is getting more hostile by the day. And I could not even say if the unsolicited attacks are worse or the unmotivated All-is-well-be-happy nonsense the same people post on other triggers. It's just pavlovian reflexes is action.
I'm very sorry that you got that straight off when asking for help.
Good luck for your negotiations!

Helga, thank you very much! I will try to get in contact with Airbnb and see if they can reduce these fines. I have had an excellent experience hosting and have met some wonderful people!

A bientot!

Alexandre

@Alexander15, Wait, what? Airbnb assessed the fine? Now I am lost. This thread is hard to follow as I cannot find your entire story. However, it did my  heart good to see you have sorted it. It is like Helga said, you must keep calling and calling until you get a person at airbnb willing to take up your cause.  So I take it you are still in business and not fined a grand? a freaking Grand? Holy Canolies.

Hello everybody(!)

 

I certainly didn't intend on instigating such a contentious debate, but I do have to say that I appreciate the responses, as some of them have been quite helpful, and even heartwarming.  All the rest has been eye-opening and an interesting insight into Airbnb, as well as online user communities as a whole. 

 

I am in the midst of talking to each guest that I have had to cancel, and the community in general (I hope) will be happy to hear that every guest, with no exception, has understood the situation and thanked me for the personal messages, while displaying no ill will towards Airbnb.  I have spent much of the day helping guests rebook with other Airbnb hosts, which has involved running searches for their particular dates, recommending a few listings by name, and answering questions about the new listing locations and other changes.  So far, so good.

 

@Shannon0 Airbnb asses a $50 penalty for each cancellation, which means that as it stands now I have over $1000 of penalties, which will be deducted from any future earnings.  I am at the moment waiting for my final guest (who is arriving 7 hours after the check-in time), to show her the apartment and make her feel at home, as I do with every guest.  I expect to recieve no money for this 4 day reservation, and if the penalties stand will make almost no money in the future for a whole month's rental.  I am in the process of appealing to Airbnb in hopes that they see my situation as somewhat extraordinary and reduce the hefty sum of penalties.  We will see how that turns out.

 

@Dave-and-Deb0 Ha!  Looks like I stuck my hand into a beehive!  (Some of the responses have stung a bit)

 

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Helga0....Hi Helga, Rather disappointed with that post. If you have checked on mine, in 95% of posts they have been cheerie, helpful and informative. It is very rare for me to sound off in the way I did here, and as I have just said, I did it for good reason.

We each need to respect each others opinions, realise that we are not always going to be right but, there are times for froth and bubble and there are times when home truths need to be told. 

I respect what you have to say Helga, you have offered much sound advice over a considerable amount of time and, as a rule, I enjoy reading your responses......just not on this occasion....cheers....Rob

Maxine0
Level 10
Brighton, United Kingdom

@Robin4 @Helga0 @Alexander15 -

Robin, I've followed some of your posts and sometimes I agree with your researched based assertions. However, as a fellow friendly host I feel you are coming across in this instance as more than a wee bit sanctimonious.

 

Helga was spot on, on point.

 

Alexander, got it wrong with the Condo - he trusted in a mate - something we have all done I'm sure. When he was advised of the rental issue by the condo - he went out of hs way to assist in the re-housing of his guests with a local, fellow ABB host.

 

Many others would not have done that. It was an honourable thing to do.

 

So in this instance Robin, give him some credit, and climb down off of that high horse before you fall and cause yourself an injury.

 

With best regards, M

@Maxine0, Here, Here!!!

Maxine0
Level 10
Brighton, United Kingdom

@Shannon0 toot, toot, sister

 

@Maxine0 Thank you!  after the first two responses I wondered if I was living in an alternate universe where nobody makes any decision without reading every bit of fine print they can get their hands on.  (In that universe, nobody would ever even make it to using iTunes, Adobe, etc...) 

 

As a general rule, I follow the regulations as they are presented to me.   In this situation, when my friend (and more importantly, legal landlord) encouraged me to list the apartment on Airbnb, I felt no responsibilty to dive into the Condo Association rules.  I didn't even know there were Condo Association rules governing the apartment building! 

 

@Momi0 As entertaining, in a weird way, your short story was about the straight-A student, karate practicing daughter who googled a pool number to confirm that she could bring a floaty toy, I am at a loss to understand the relevance, again.  Now, if her friend, who was the MANAGER at the pool, said "come to the pool I LEGALLY MANAGE, and be sure to bring your floaty toy", would you seriously have her call the pool and ask for the artciles of incorporation, book of regulations governing pool use, and relevant state, county and town statutes regarding floaty toy use in swimming pools?  Because that is essentially what you are expecting me to do.  That would be ridiculous, and for future reference those answers are unhelpful on a community forum.