Airbnb guest turned into a SQUATTER

[Heather1328]

Have any other hosts ran into this issue? We had a guest who had a 6-month reservation for our 4-bedrom home, the dates of the reservation were December 2020-June 2021. His insurance company paid for it through a property manager who made the 3rd party reservation. As soon as the reservation was confirmed under her name and her many 5-star reviews the reservation updated to Joe, the actual person staying at the property. Apparently professional property managers can book as a 3rd party through Airbnb as a "feature". The reservation seemed legit, we didn't have red flags, and with his insurance footing the bill all seemed good.

Until June. Long story short...Joe allowed Wayne to move in with him. Joe got arrested. The house was trashed. Wayne refused to leave the property at check out and due to California squatter's rights we had to go through a 2-month eviction process to legally get him out. I had to cancel my next reservations. 

Airbnb provided zero support through this process. We have reached out many times. With a court decision made in August we finally got access to the house and could fully access the damage/make repairs/invoice Airbnb. 

Airbnb is refusing to reimburse us one penny now. Stating "For damages to be eligible for payment under our Host Guarantee, the damage must have occurred during the reservation dates booked on the Airbnb platform. Based on the information we have to date, it appears the reported damage occurred outside of the reservation dates.

Based on the information we have to date, this requirement was not met."

We have been in contact with Airbnb since 2-days prior to the reservation's end. We have provided videos showing the walk-through we did with the Police on the check out date which clearly shows the damage. We have provided dozens of police reports which we accumulated over the 2-month period. 

I have been asking for assistance and get bounced around between department, always starting over with a new representative who I have to re-tell the whole story to, only to be continuously told that "I'm not eligible for support." We have over $30,000 in damages to the structure of the home and to the furniture inside. This has been a devastating financial impact as well as one of the most stressful and toxic situations we had to deal with. Drug dealers legally allowed to stay in our home while we could do nothing but follow the legal process and wait 2-months for a Judge to give us a written order giving us our home back. 

My husband thinks the next step is to hire a lawyer and sue Airbnb. Any other recourse possible would be greatly appreciated. This has been a nightmare and another court case is so much stress.

[Deborah350]

What did your insurance company say?

[Heather1328]

Insurance company meaning Airbnb's Host Guarantee?

We have homeowner's insurance which only covers things like if it gets burned down. It doesn't cover things like, Airbnb guest trashed the house and Airbnb is refusing to cover it. 

Any advice from any hosts?

[Pam1907]

Heather,

Please tell me the final result of your reimbursement claim. The exact same thing has occurred with me, Airbnb guest stayed past reservation, refused to leave and when she finally did, I discovered she destroyed and stole things. Plus, I lost income from cancelling other reservations because of her occupancy. I also saw no red flags. She presented normal; good reviews, older woman (@65), and nothing stood out. I think a combination of mental illness and cash flow issues created her conduct but who knows. I received NO HELP from Airbnb. Most customer support people don't understand it is a civil issue, they provide inaccurate information and advice. Or they say it is in the hands of the "extraction dept" (not sure there is one) or the "safety dept" meaning it has been escalated and they can no longer support you. They always profusely apologize they can't help but someone will contact you from one of these fictitious dept's.

Did Airbnb pay you for the time the guests were in your home and hadn't paid? And did you ever get reimbursed for the damage? Advise please?

[Jenny]

Hi @Pam1907 

Did you receive any contact from Airbnb about what happened e.g. did they reply to your requests for assistance?  Was any offer made, or a reason given for not offering you anything?

Some more detail would be great, and we can try and help.  When you reply, please press @ and choose "Jenny" and that will tag me in your reply.

Jenny

[Pam1907]

Nothing. Crickets. Every time I call customer service and explain I need to speak to someone immediately, they state "Safety dept." is handling and there is NOTHING they can do.  They profusely apologize and state someone from that dept. will contact you. Every person (and they have all been different) that has exchanged an email with me from the "safety dept." I have explained the situation and they never say what the next step is. Or they give advice that is not legally possible in AZ. Like gain entry to your home and place the squatters things in a storage area and take pictures of her items. NO ONE at Airbnb knows the laws in the US or AZ. I have submitted a claim for the loss of income, damage and stolen items along with pics and documentation to the last person (I was told ) who was involved in my case, Felix. That's all I get is one name but all messages go to a general mailbox. So I sent my claim to everyone of them. 

I have been doing some research and unfortunately it is not rare for Airbnb to refute or refuse claims and/or support.  Apparently Airbnb posted their Terms of Service (Article 23) in Feb. 2022, it states they are only a venue and they have no responsibility is vetting the guests or the hosts. No responsibility for damages caused by either guest or host. It is filled with disclaimers. I did not know I was not protected by Airbnb. Maybe I was when I became a host in 2019 but according to their TOS, they are not liable for anything. This means they can legally say if damage to my home or loss of income happened outside of the legal Airbnb reservation dates, they are not liable. I am amazed at how little I am really protected from a poor Airbnb guest. I have another guest arriving in 10 days and I have to replace things before they get here to prevent a bad review and to be decent. I honestly don't believe Airbnb cares about their super hosts. Any ideas or thoughts on how to accelerate resolution? Thank you! Pam

[Jenny]

Hi @Pam1907 

Thanks for the update.

I've escalated this within Airbnb for you, and explained that you need an update from the Safety team.

Hopefully someone will be in touch.

Thanks for your patience.

Jenny

[Emiel1]

@Heather1328 

First: I personally would never have accepted a reservation for 6 months made by a 3rd party. I then also suddenly the reservation "updated" to another person ? Seems to me fraud  and a violation of Airbnb terms.

And now Airbnb is trying to spin its way out of the case, but it's not that easy !

So filing a lawsuit is a strong signal to the property manager as well as Airbnb to take your case very seriously.

[Lisa723]

@Emiel1 US TOS exclude the lawsuit route, at least against Airbnb itself. Acceptance of the TOS is agreement to binding arbitration.

[Emiel1]

@Lisa723 

The TOS is not the holy grail. IMO this case stinks, and it starts already with the so called "property manager". 

[Lisa723]

@Emiel1 well, it may not be the holy grail but it is legally binding. Yes, the property manager may have some different legal exposure. In the OP's shoes, I would look at arbitration as the best bet.

[Lisa723]

@Heather1328 according to the terms of your agreement with Airbnb, your options for resolving this dispute are small claims court and arbitration. Your damages probably exceed the limit for small claims court. In your shoes I would initiate arbitration, hoping that Airbnb will decide to settle with you rather than spend time and money on the process.

See section 23:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2908/terms-of-service

[Colleen253]

 "we didn't have any red flags". 

Umm, "California squatter's rights". I come from hickville Canada and even I know how risky it is to take a long term booking in California.

This post should be trotted out every time some new host wonders if they should take that third party or long term booking.

Best of luck to you in wrapping this up @Heather1328 

[Sarah977]

No red flags??? Booked by a property manager, paid for by an insurance company? A 6 month reservation? Accepted when  the guest didn't even have any profile or reviews? Joe allowed Wayne to move in with him and the host allowed this, or wasn't aware of it, or wasn't paying attention to what was going on at her property? Wasn't aware of landlord/tenant laws  when she agreed to take a 6 month booking?

I feel sorry for anyone who has their house trashed, but this booking should have been declined at the outset.

[Basha0]

I never rent for more than 2 weeks. Ever! House gets trashed the longer someone stays