Airbnb not so safe…Safety in your home!

[Tyler519]

I’m going to explain my story and express my concerns to warn other host in order for this not to happen to them. I’ve been a host for several years now. I trusted Airbnb would be there part as far as a background check. The guest new to Airbnb (2 months) had a felony charge pending. Aggravated assault with deadly weapon. I found this information online and shared it with Airbnb after the guest activity fired a stun gun/taser gun in the Airbnb room! Since the guest was armed it was a scary situation. Airbnb suggested calling police, I did. Then the police wouldn’t come because of his record and the fact he was armed or possibly armed! Airbnb put me in a very very unsafe situation. I’m afraid to continue hosting… what if I got shot? What if next time I’m not so lucky?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Tyler519 Given that Airbnb is international in nature it would be impossible to do background checks on all nationalities. The only way to be totally safe is not to host guests (and also to stay in bed all day in case you get run over by a car when leaving the house).

[Tyler519]

I agree!🤣 Although you’re missing my message here which is do your homework. Before confirming booking run the first and last name via local law enforcement. CYA  Similarly to eBay you wouldn’t buy something without checking seller feedback,right? Just be careful who you invite into your home.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Tyler519 Interesting that you can run names through with your local law enforcement. In the UK this would be illegal even if you could persuade an officer to do so. I usually google folks but as we are not home sharing the risks  are more directed to property damage rather than personal safety.

[Tyler519]

Yes, I normally see a tread with the “local travelers” or problem airbnb-staycationers. This guest was most likely kicked out of home by his wife. (Told me he was going though divorce).
Also correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think you can own a weapon in England, right? 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Tyler519 There are strict rules on weapons ownership. To qualify you need a legitimate reason to have one. Typically this is for work so our neighbours (Gamekeeper and Farmer) have them as do the Gamekeeper's customers who are only allowed shotguns for sport (although I guess deer hunters are allowed rifles).

I would estimate way less than 1% of the population can legally have a gun.

Actually the Lord and Lady of the manor also shoot so whilst less than 1% of households have guns 75% of the houses around ours have guns - HELP!

[Nur785]

We cannot legally run names through local law enforcement. We can however run names through public records. If their altercation has become part of an arraignment or a court proceeding it would become public record and available information under OPRA. Open Public Records Act. 

The interesting part is you cannot usually get to those through names. So I am really interested to know how @Tyler519 got it! You can get that information usually if you know the locality of proceeding. 

[Tyler519]

Yes I googled his first and last name including my county and state then the public record appeared. Let me be clear I found this info on Google. 

[Nur785]

@Tyler519 How do you do this? First, you don't have the name of the person before they book. Second, even if you did, no LEA I know would run names for the sake of it. 

I use a private security company to do this when I hire employees which costs a lot and requires about a million pages of consent form from the prospective employee. How do you get this information? I am really curious. 

[Deborah265]

Airbnb can afford to do a thorough background search on every US user.  Proof:  Rover.com and TrustedHouseitter.com have a fraction of the revenue of Airbnb (currently $11b/ year) yet both require full criminal background checks on EVERY user . At a cost of $20-$50 for a full criminal background check, Airbnb has the funds - they INTENTIONALLY choose not to require full background checks on all users because  of greed.  All 3 Airbnb Founders (each with a net worth of $8b)  are well aware that if they didnt allow criminals to book on their platform their bookings would plummet and revenue would drop  from $11 billion per year to $5 or $7 billion per year.  I'm a host suing Airbnb because thei r fraud and misrepresentation about criminal background checks lead to a guest breaking into a locked closet and stealing tens of thousands of dollars from me,  in addtion to all my memory sticks with travel from 27 countries including weddings in Austria, Sydney and 2 in London and discovvered the guest was a fugitive on the run from the law who had TWELVE arrests and 5 pending criminal cases .  I successfully found loopholes in Airbnb's release of liability for emotional distress of hosts like me who experienced:  Grand Larceny, SWAT teams surrounding their homes and destroying their property to arrest fugitives inside (who used a fake name to make the booking since Airbnb long standing policy to not require gov ID), finding human remains and/or extensive amounts of human blood on their property, having ALL contents of their unit stolen by guests, sexual assault by guests wanted for sexual assault or being physically harmed by guests recently released from prison for assault with a deadly weapon, etc.  I deposed their OWN witness who confirmed that many dismembered bodies, dead bodies, SWAT team surrounds, rape, robbery (some at knife or gunpoint), burglaries and other crimes have been reported by Airbnb Hosts frequently over the years.

[Andrea5943]

So what happened/what is happening?  I'm in a similar situation right now as I type.  Did your guest leave?  Did you intervene? 

I was just on the phone with AB&B.  They seem to be pursuing this on their end, trying to cancel these 3rd party guest's reservation, but ultimately I am the one who deals with the fallout.  I'm certain these folks won't leave just because AB&B is asking them to, or at the very least they won't leave without a fight. 

I, too, am afraid to continue hosting.  But for now I'm just wanting this over.

[Tyler519]

Oh Andrea I’m very sorry to hear this.  Before the pandemic hosting was fun used to meet people from all over the world. Would share travel story’s etc. So the out come after speaking to the police and them telling me I’d have to go though an eviction process to remove him. In my eyes this was unacceptable. I approached the guest and informed him that Airbnb has been trying to contact him since 3pm however I heard a phone ring serval times then silence for hours. He was obviously avoiding the situation. So I apologized for his “phone number change” and informed him to leave my property effective immediately. Having a surveillance camera recording is against the contact guest agreed to. Not to mention the weapon or his pending charges that the Airbnb rep said was “missed” I don’t know what that means. Airbnb needs to protect their host. Without good host there is no airbnb. The next guest I will personally screen but not until we get this reimbursement cleared up. I will continue to block days until my issue has been rectified. I agree with you we shouldn’t have to deal with these third party listing issues. 

[Fred13]

You appear to expect a lot from a booking agency, which is what Airbnb is. They are not the CIA or FBI or have their own SWAT team to play cops & robbers. I am also on other platforms, they do not either. The real problem lies elsewhere.

[Deborah265]

Rover.com , trustedhousesitter.com & Petsitter.com are all booking services  & all require applicants undergo criminal background checks & submit govt ID...If they can do it, so can Airbnb. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Deborah265 How long do these checks take? I suspect it is measured in weeks by which time a prospective Airbnb guest would have booked on a different platform or into a hotel!