Evicting a tenant

[Olga858]

Hi Any suggestions on how to remove a tenant would be great. he's ben there for 30 days and has scared 5 other tenants away. So he's going to cost me a lot of money. Any suggestions would be more than welcome!

[Anonymous]

@Olga858   Your first reference point would be have to be your city's right-of-tenancy and eviction laws. Airbnb can not help you in this process beyond cancelling the reservation - beyond this point, your recourse is determined by local law.  If a reading of the policy leaves you unsure of how to proceed, you may have to consult an attorney.

[Olga858]

The laywer said I can get him out of the property within 5 to 7 months. It's a 6 bedroom house which was rented out per room. Philly doesn't have any eviction courts until November. So I guess the **bleep** is just going to enjoy living in the house for free until November? 

[Anonymous]

@Olga858   Possibly. This nightmare situation is one reason Airbnb hosts are well advised against rentals of a long enough duration for the guest to acquire right of tenancy. 

[Mark116]

@Anonymous  That is why it is SO annoying to always see the messages about how taking long guests is a great way to increase occupancy, but airbnb provides no guidance or templates or any help to hosts in protecting themselves from these reservations turning into squatters who have to be formally evicted. 

[Huma0]

@Mark116  I don't think it is a bad thing to host long-term guests at all. It is what I have been doing for some time and I have to say, although there are the occasional problems (nothing drastic though), percentage wise, you get more problems with short term guets.

However, you cannot rely on Airbnb to supply all the relevant information for each locality. It is up to the host to research that. I know that by law, my long-term guests absolutely cannot claim any tenants' rights and neither could long-term lodgers, because that's not possible under UK law.

We all need to get versed in the laws that apply to our areas and make judgements based on those. Airbnb isn't going to do that for us, just like they don't advise us on tax regulations in  our individual countries.

[Mark116]

@Huma0  Our situation is different, since we rent out an entire apartment, under NJ law the 'guest' could claim to be a tenant after 28 days, which is why don't do it.

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

That's fair enough. You know your local laws and make your decisions accordingly. 

My point was that no one should rely on Airbnb to keep them informed of these things as it's not going to happen. Every host should take the time to research the laws in their area, not just in terms of tenants' rights and evictions, but in terms of STRs/renting property in general.

[Mark116]

@Olga858  Aren't they doing any kind of video court?  It seems nuts that they would basically put all evictions on hold for that long.  You can of course sue him in small claims court for the $$ but its often difficult to get those judgments enforced.  

[Nanxing0]

@Mark116 Unfortunately the situation is like what @Olga858 said. The eviction freeze is to protect those tenants who lost their job due to the pandemic and cannot keep up with the rent payment. However it's being used by some greedy tenants to get free housing these days. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Olga858 How about offering him $1000 cash to live tomorrow? Might be worth checking with attorney that it would be legal to do so!

[Nanxing0]

Did you sign a lease with the tenant? If not you can ask the police to remove him/her as he/she is essentially occupying your property illegally. If you signed a lease with him/her, then unfortunately you have to wait till the eviction court opens. Airbnb reservations are not considered lease.

[Olga858]

No lease. 

[Alexandra316]

@Olga858 Please ensure that your lawyer understands that they're a tenant with shared facilities, like a kitchen and bathroom. Often, the requirements for evicting someone from a place with shared facilities is much less arduous than it would be for a full apartment or house. Do your own research also.

Failing that, yeah, a cash bribe as suggested by @Mike-And-Jane0 might be the most expeditious way to get them out. 

[Nanxing0]

@Alexandra316 As far as I know it makes no difference in terms of eviction process for shared facility vs full apartment here in Philly. It generally takes 2-3 months or more when the eviction court was open, while if the tenant is greedy enough and knows how to play around with the law they can stay for a year with no payment. The best bet for OP on legal action would be to go without the eviction process and claim that the guest is trespassing. It depends on the officer though.

I would not call it a "cash bribe", but "buy out". It's a typical method used to evict a bad tenant peacefully.