host invasion

Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

host invasion

https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Woman-charged-with-staging-home-invasion-to-scare-14400541...

 

Article reports the host's posting on social media about her plans...

28 Replies 28
Mike-And-Helen0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

This woman host was at her wits' end. People who were originally airbnb guests had become squatters.

What boggles the mind is that she charges $150 per hour for her supposed expertise in short term rentals, but somehow she was unaware of  how tenancy rights work.

Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

Poor woman, She did NOTHING wrong! The squatters are criminal scum, good on the landlord for trying to physically evict them. Those guests who refused to leave are beneath contempt.

@Helen350 I hope you are kidding. Yes she was in a tough spot but the way she tried to handle it was violent and illegal.

 

Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

@Lisa723 No I'm not kidding, If it was her house she was quite reasonable to do what she did. Crazy, that in a country where any psycho has the right to carry a gun, a home owner can not go & recover their own property.

 

Why did the police not kick the scum out?

@Helen350 in the US, tenants have all the rights. Police cannot remove the tenant unless there is a court order.... which can take months. 

Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

@Emilia42 Same here when tenants ARE tenants. Eviction thru courts needed, costs the poor landlord money. But squatters who never began legally no longer have rights.

@Helen350 these occupants reportedly started out as tenants. They stayed with the host on Airbnb then she moved them off-platform, with a long-term rental agreement, but they did not pay. Unfortunately for her she posted widely on Facebook groups about her dilemma and she get some really bad advice to go vigilante.

Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

I agree with abiding by the laws of the country you live in.... Ever heard the phrase 'The law is an ass'?

 

(Now morally.......)

@Emilia42It really depends on the states. In California, NY etc, it does take months. But in Texas, Arizona etc, it takes only days or less than a month.

@Helen350and @Lisa723  This lady's sad experience is the reality in California, which is a state where landlords' rights are not protected even though they are lawfully own the properties. They lose the rights after they rent their properties to tenants. Even though the tenants don't pay but still legally occupy the property they don't own.

 

Why is the rent in San Francisco Bay area is one of the highest in the US is due to these stupid laws. People who own their properties are afraid of renting them out because of those Squatters. This further cause the hiking of rental prices. In addition, many cities start to pass rental control laws. These will not only control the rental price but cause more shortage of rental properties.

 

 

@Mike1034 FWIW I think this lady did not in fact own the property. She leased several properties long-term and then sublet them both short- and long-term. I have read that what she was doing was illegal in this building, but I don't know for sure whether that's true.

@Lisa723She acts like a property manager or some types of real estate management business. She did not realize the risks of renting the property for a long-term. I believe that those properties were intended originally for short-term because the nightly rate is very high. Definitely nobody want to rent long-term for that price.

@Lisa723  I can see both sides to this. From reading this link, it appears that this woman has had run-ins with the law before and she seems to have some rather unsavory characters in her orbit. And there's some question as to whether all these properties are legal and she doesn't seem to be aware of landlord/tenant laws. Nor does she appear to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, planning and organizing violent and illegal acts on social media.

Her approach is certainly not one I'd condone, staging a home invasion wouldn't even be something that would occur to me, but it does make evident how unfair laws are regarding evicting tenants who simply refuse to pay or leave, as well as Airbnb's often lack of timely and appropriate response when a host contacts them about a guest's clearly unacceptable behavior.