Taking legal action against past guest

[Jeffrey434]

I'm a long time host and have managed several properties through the platform with little to no issues. 

Earlier this year I had hosted a new guest who turned out to be deceitful and manipulated me and the co-host who help to manage the property. Due to that, I had refunded without getting all of the facts (this was my mistake, I know). 

I would like to now take legal action to try and recoup the funds (about 2k usd). Does anyone have advice on how I can go about doing this? I know the person is verified through Airbnb but that doesn't do me any good as the info is not available directly in the platform. I've also seen that this has happened with previous hosts which appeared as reviews on the profile after I had already had the guest staying with me.

Any advice?

[Helen3]

Sorry to hear about this guest. What actually happened?

I don't know how the legal system works in the US but in the UK we can pay a few hundred pounds to take people to the small claims court. @Jeffrey434 

What sort of legal case do you feel you have if you voluntarily chose to refund a guest?

Did they commit a crime such as stealing from you? Did you report it to the police?

[Jeffrey434]

The guest had created a story about their stay and I had refunded the guest in effort to do what a good host would do. Come to find out, this was a common occurrence.  She claimed she was locked out of the apartment and a host of other lies which were untrue upon further investigation.