Terrorists Hosted by Airbnb Subletter in Israel

I am an owner of an apartment. Since I live in another country, somebody I knew – and I thought I could trust, as they rented my flat previously – suggested I rent my flat on Airbnb. I really didn’t want to do it as my flat was just renovated. However, she convinced me and I stupidly fell for it.

After a few months, I visited and had some issues with this girl whom I did not know. She was illegally renting several flats on Airbnb. On this visit she told me that she went to Israel where, before boarding a flight, she was arrested by the police. After a long search, it turned out that she was arrested as they found emails with a terrorist whom she hosted. I don’t know if this was in my flat or another.

I contacted Airbnb who did not want to give any information, who also don’t even have an office or email being an online/internet business, which is absolutely absurd. I had to turn to the authorities who did not help either. The girl refused to give me the contacts of the people who stayed in my flat. This very same girl also stole the money she got from rentals. Airbnb refused to give me the information of people who stayed in my flat and how much they paid. The girl stole the money.

Please do not use Airbnb. I didn’t use them even before the accident as I prefer authentic places. Airbnb is not that. Be careful. You never know when a terrorist visits and you put your life, the life of the people in the building in danger. Airbnb should be illegal.

Airbnb Deceptive Disclosure of Terms and Conditions

After investing a considerable amount of time reviewing the terms and conditions of host agreements with Airbnb I invested even more time in listing two vacation rental properties with them that I have rented for years through VRVO and vacation rentals. At first, I thought I was the problem because I was accustomed to direct control of the terms and conditions of the rental, especially the payment and cancellation policies.

1. They did not disclose that no payouts are possible until $2,000 is accrued in earned payments. There are no details on what happens to your $1,999 if you end your relationship with them.

2.  In the preview of the host agreement (before signing up) they gave the impression that payment is immediately forwarded to the owner. In fact, it is not credited to the owner’s account until AFTER the guest has checked in.

3. Their built-in software overrides and alters the owner’s choices or doesn’t give owners the option to choose, then sets a non-disclosed policy.

4. They kept changing my “strict cancellation” to flexible, and they kept turning off or modifying my minimums. They also advertised at different rates than I specified.

5. I found navigating their software and their self-help pages tedious and time consuming. Owners: stick with vacation rentals, vacation home rentals, and VRBO. Control the terms and conditions with which people occupy your valuable property.

Airbnb may be great for travelers (I haven’t read the guest horror stories yet) but it is effectively victimization and exploitation of homeowners who assume all the risk and pay a handsome fee to Airbnb for every booking. Before accepting ANY booking through Airbnb, read the fine print!