hostile neighbors

hostile neighbors

I have recently registered with airbnb and currently have my second group of guests visiting. I live in Sydney, in a duplex apartment. The second apartment is unoccupied due to renovations and will be for the next few months but the owner is concerned about the use of my apartment for AirBnB. I have received numerous texts from my neighbour informing me of her registered complaints with her solicitor, local council and Department of Fair Trading. She is threatening to sue me for damages. The guests have caused no damages as far as I can tell and she has not outlined any damages. Her response to my questions are, "we will discuss it in court". 

 

Has anyone had a similar experience and what outcome could I expect.

2 Replies 2

Is your listing registered & completely legal in your city? Are you the property owner (or do you have explicity permission from the property owner?) If the answers are all yes, you are absolutely legal/permitted with all the appropriate permissions, then you should be OK. If that's the case, I'd try to work it out with your neighbors. Are they concerned about their safety? Do guests make noise at night that is disruptive? I think we need more information to give you appropriate advice.

The property is registered and I am the owner. There are many airbnb properties listed in Sydney (10000) but the legalities could be a grey area according to some newspaper articles. I didn't apply for or receive appropriate permissions. I still wouldn't know who to apply to for those. I just registered with airbnb and started listing. I am sure the guests could be heard at times but the neighbour doesn't live in her house. It is uninhabitable due to renovations. I intend to try and work it out with the neighbour but it looks like I will have to remove the listing.

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