Long-Term Reservation Scam

[Matthew433]

Has anyone been a victim of this scam? Where your guest won't leave and claim tenant rights? I call it a scam because the guest manipulated a situation clearly knowing he had rights not to leave.

I am absolutely disgusted by people and how Airbnb has not been more pro-active to ensure host's understand the consequences of allowing a guest to book over 30-days.  I was naive and thought by utilising this platform I didn't have to worry.  However only after you search information on airbnb you find out details and potential problems. I feel it should be clearly stated whenever a hosts allows for bookings over 30-days that they understand potential risks.

I will likely lose 3 months worth of bookings and thousands of dollars in legal fees, time, and what ever other damage is occurred once I get the guest out. I have no rights to my own property and I have no terms in any sort of lease yet I am considered a landlord.

I would warn any host to NEVER allow for a guest to book for over 30-days. If you do choose to allow this, ensure you have a addendum agreement in place and signed prior to the guest arrival to protect yourself.  Learn from what I am going through!  If anyone has similar experiences I would interested in hearing them.

[Lisa723]

@Matthew433 thanks for the heads-up. Tenants' rights vary by locality. What happened to you?

[Ute42]

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@Matthew433 

Offer your guest money to leave. A friend did it and it works.

It hurts, but it's cheaper than going through all the legal stuff.

[Florence372]

Hi Matthew, so sorry to hear you had to go through this....how did you end up resolving it?  I'm having a difficult tenant at the moment who booked for 28 days and I'm a bit concerned with this...I'm very disappointed at how little Airbnb protects hosts.

[Helen3 · Accepted solution]

Sorry to hear about your experience with the guest.

However you are the business owner and it is your responsibility to be familiar with any legislation or policies that affect your business such as STR restrictions or tenancy rights which vary from area to area and country to country. It isn’t the responsibility of whichever listing companies you market your business through to notify you about these issues. 

It is not true to say hosts should never take 30 days plus bookings. In my country you certainly can.

You can’t expect Airbnb to notify hosts with a warning on 30 day booking as in many countries are tenancy laws are different to yours and we don’t have your restrictions.