Please Help Me. AirBnB Suspended My Account and Won't Communicate with Me.

Payton0
Level 2
Jacksonville, FL

Please Help Me. AirBnB Suspended My Account and Won't Communicate with Me.

I have been an AirBnB Host for many years in Jacksonville, Florida.  I have more than 35 listings, with over 3,000 guests to date, and my properties have excellent reviews.  I have a great track record with AirBnB.

 

Outside of AirBnB, my real estate company manages other properties I own or co-own.  They are rented in variations of long-term, short-term, furnished, and unfurnished.

 

A woman messaged me through AirBnB trying to find housing for her friend in Canada who was coming to Jacksonville to get treatment for her 4 year old son who has brain cancer.  I asked the woman to have her friend message me through AirBnB or contact me at my real estate office to discuss her needs.  Her friend never wrote me through AirBnB, but called my office and we discussed her needs.

 

As she was not familiar with AirBnB, had unique needs, and did not know exact dates or the length of her stay, I processed her as a standard tenant and we completed a lease.  I informed her that I host and rent to medical cases often, and given the nature of her reasons for being in Jacksonville I would provide a considerable discount for her stay and would not hold her to the lease should she choose not to.

 

The woman stayed at my property for approximately a week.  Things were fine between she and I and were not contentious.  After that week, she messaged me and informed she that she had been offered housing at the Ronald McDonald house and wanted to know if I would consider giving her a refund.  At this point, she had only paid the security deposit and had sent it through Paypal.  Paypal held the funds in escrow and I had not received them yet.  I told her to take care of her family, and that I would give her a refund.

 

A few days later, she sent me a contentious text asking why I had not sent her refund.  I informed her that I would be sending a full refund, but that if wouldn't be immediate as I had policies in place for issuing refunds (Florida law allows 30 days).  Please keep in mind that I was under no legal obligation to give her a refund.

 

She and I called into Paypal on a 3 way call this past week.  Paypal informed her that I had not received any funds because they were still in escrow. Paypal refunded her the money she'd paid, and I thought the matter was closed.

 

That evening, I received messages via Facebook from people associated with the woman.  She posted on Facebook that I scammed her, that my properties were unsafe and disgusting, and that I was taking advantage of her situation: having a son with cancer.  I received numerous threats to my safety and my children's safety via Facebook from people associated with her.

 

The next day, she went to the news and lied about what had happened.  The news ran a story claiming that she was an AirBnB guest and I had scammed her.  I provided a statement to the news with the facts; they ignored these facts.

 

The story reached AirBnB, and two days ago AirBnB suspended my 35 listings.  Though I have called AirBnB more than 20 times, AirBnB will not respond to me with any perspective.  AirBnB has not asked for my perspective.  I have proof that the lady was lying.

 

To add insult to injury, the news followed up the story with a report that AirBnB provided free housing, toys and dining gift cards to the woman.  All this despite her not being a part of the AirBnB community and lying to the news.

 

I have retained an attorney and we are aggressively filing suit against the news outlet for defamation and loss of use, as I can prove they knowingly reported false information about me.

 

Here's my problem: Though I have done nothing wrong, AirBnB has suspended all of my listings.  While I am booked well for the next month and am able to continue to honor the existing bookings for now, I am unable to take new bookings because my listings have been suspended/deactivated.

 

I can't afford to wait much longer for understanding and closure.  I can't afford for 35 furnished properties to sit vacant.  Please help me if you have any perspective on what I should do next.  Thank you.

 

31 Replies 31
Alissa53
Level 2
Wake Forest, NC

Hi @Payton0 , I am a fellow host and I saw this post. I am dealing with something similar and was wondering if you could reach out to me either here or email me at amptusa@gmail.com. I have been looking for answers and your post is something that is the closest to what I'm going through. I'm hoping you can help me with some answers. Thank you.

Jason-and-Hannah0
Level 2
Florida, United States

hi @Payton0 @I’m going through a similar situation. Was your case ever resolved? Thank you!