Listed on Airbnb without my Knowledge or Permission

blank

This is under “host stories” but I was actually an unwilling host. A woman named Richelle rented an apartment in Vancouver from me on a 12-month lease ostensibly for herself to live in, under an ordinary tenancy agreement. However, I soon discovered she had it listed on Airbnb (and Craigslist) as a “luxury apartment”, charging $125/night in low season, under a profile name, “Ragna” (in which she appears in disguise). The ‘house rules’ in the ad advise guests to be “discreet” about their stay. “Ragna” has some 434 reviews for other properties on Airbnb – all very likely owned by people who have no idea that strangers are staying in their property over and over again. Of course, trying to contact Airbnb to have the ad removed is like going down a rabbit hole. How it can be that Airbnb would allow someone to post ads for a property they do not own without proof that the actual owner has given permission is perplexing.

Posted in Airbnb Host Stories and tagged , , , , , .

7 Comments

  1. If you want an Airbnb rental, purchase your OWN property, pay for the repairs, the liability insurance, the maintenance, deal with irresponsible tenants, mow the grass, etc. IMO, Airbnb can not profit on a property without the consent of the owner!! It’s just fraud.

    I foresee a class action coming to Airbnb soon for this activity.

  2. If you want an Airbnb buy your OWN property! Then you can pay the purchase price, pay for the repairs, the liability, mow the grass, etc. IMO, Airbnb can not profit against property without consent of the owner. It’s fraud. Some serious issues there.

    Sounds like a class action suit coming for all involved.

  3. In response to this advertisement, the name of the author is Lauryn. What she has posted is FALSE. We did enter into a tenancy agreement, which I was a little nervous about as she was in England at the time. Everything was done electronically. She used a young student to show me the unit, and I communicated through him. After paying the deposit, she subsequently decided to keep my deposit and refused to hand over the keys. I had never put her unit on Airbnb, and was planning on moving in. She left me high and dry. This is currently being processed in court where I will be suing her, possibly for slander now as well. There is also a police investigation taking place concerning possible fraud. Lauryn is a crook and a thief. She stole my money! If anyone wants evidence, I actually do have it. This is fair warning to any tenants out there! Stay away from Lauryn.

  4. When you rent to a tenant, the tenant is legally liable for what happens in the apartment. Unless you specifically put no subletting in the tenancy agreement, she hasn’t done anything wrong. Maybe you’re butt sore because you didn’t think to rent it out for $125/day and only get to collect the monthly rent? It looks like she only rents it on the weekends and if her guests are respectful and don’t cause any damage, I don’t see the problem. If they do cause damage than you have a damage deposit for that.

  5. Happens all the time. Aimco, a company that owns nearly 50,000 units in the U.S., notified Airbnb three times in six months to stop listing its units at specific addresses. Airbnb ignored them. Aimco filed suit against Airbnb in California and Florida last month, alleging tortous interference and unfair business practices. Independent experts think the case is very, very strong.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *