I live next door to an Airbnb that could serve as a case study in everything that is bad and wrong about Airbnb. You name it: late night parties, daytime noise, outdoor speakers, irresponsible fires, trespassing, and so on. It is an illegal operation that the town is well aware of, yet they claim they are powerless to stop them, despite clear violations of town ordinances.
As with many municipalities, the problem here is big and growing and overwhelming to a small town. The police have been useless. All of the neighbors complain about this place amongst one another, yet most are afraid to take any action, both from a natural aversion to confrontation, but also for fear of retaliation by the Airbnb operators, including myself; they have been aggressively hostile to those of us who lived here before they bought their place and turned it into a hotel and “event house” and destroyed the privacy and tranquility of our little corner of the California desert.
It is hard to describe the destruction of a neighborhood and a way of life, but everything we moved here for has been ruined by Airbnb. Many ask: why don’t you just put up a fence? Part of the beauty of the place was the absence of fences. Everyone lived here and respected one another’s property. All that is gone. Some have asked: why don’t you just move? To that I would say: where to? Where can I live without the risk of an Airbnb opening across the street?
It is a great thing for people looking to make money with their second home, but for those of us who live next door, it is a plague. What I’m trying to find out is whether anyone has had any success with Airbnb’s neighbor complaint line. Are they genuinely responsive or are you dealing with a chat bot? How much evidence do they require to take a neighbor’s complaint seriously? Has anyone ever been delisted from Airbnb based on a neighbor’s complaint? what was the nature of that complaint? How long did it take? Thanks for any feedback with a success story.
airbnb is a disaster for neighborhoods. Governments have to intervene. I live in Spain, in a small town, in a very quiet street. The airbnb house next to me mentions this ‘quiet area’ as a plus. The airbnb guests do everything to destroy this quiet area with constant parties, very loud music, the police will come but then 3 days later you have the next group and you can start over again. It is unliveable and it is a scandal that this is legal. The house has a license, that is where the nightmare starts. No licenses to rent should ever be given in a neighborhood.
If things were reversed as far as how city governments have been hijacked by these terrorists. Yes i said terrorists and i mean it that is what they are ,
In my dream state i could make the one who runs a drug operation get in an accident and die , and when his mother comes crying to police to go after me because she thinks i did it , even if i did they have to tell her “sorry theres nothing we can do here “
They do absolutely nothing! They don’t even read the message and you get an automatic response from a bot. I have sent 6 complaint to Airbnb because of the apartment above us, nothing changes. It’s an absolute nightmare and it’s driving us out of our home :´(
Yep, I have a large house next to mine thats always causing trouble … we’ve called the police, we’ve had the noise, nuisance and antisocial behaviour.. we’ve had the drug parties .. you name it… and this house supposed to have a ‘super host’…. like hell!!! We’ve complained umpteen times to Airbnb and got the usual word-processed email in return … they simply couldn’t give a toss so long as the £££$$$ rolls in…… now we are contacting a solicitor viz harrassment … and its going to cost us good money to do so ….
They do nothing, like the owner and agent of the house next door to us they do not give a monkeys about the chaos, filth and disturbance that their business causes. This is a quiet little community in a cup de sac turned into a nightmare by AirB&B.
Would you mind me asking a question? Im curious to know if there is some sort pf scheme going on and if we are targeted for some reason
Actually a couple of questions
1.are you a republican?
2.. Are you a smoker?
Im also in a cul de sac in the hills and everything EVERYTHING echos so badly. Ive had it with this shit.
I am so glad to see this site now has a Neighbours section. It did used to have one. I was approached by a UK journalist because of the post I made about being an Air BnB Neighbour in 2016-2017.
Sorry to say, you guessed it – NO Air BnB Neighbours did nothing to help. Just a “We have reported the complaint to the Host.”
You’ve got to tweet about it. Make a noise on social media and in the news. That’s the only way they respond. Even then they won’t do anything to rectify the situation unless it gets high profile enough.
Happening to us as well. We live in a community that is known as cottage country to Toronto and now a couple of people have bought property for the specific reason of renting on air bnb. They rarely use it and are never here to see the problems the renters cause. Fireworks and drinking late into the night, police and fire calls for domestic issues and more. This air bnb thing needs to be under regulations at a National level. People making money but ruining neighborhoods and property values. Then you use the air bnb complaint system and that is a rabbit hole. Time to get serious about shutting down these air bnb operations.
The original post in this thread describes my situation and sentiments exactly. I’ve had an illegal airbnb hotel running next door to me for the past year. It has ruined the neighbourhood.
Airbnb does not respond at all the complaints from neighbours. And guests caught stealing from neighbouring properties still get glowing reviews. There are no negative reviews on Airbnb. The police won’t do anything. The municipality paid them a visit a few days ago. But likely they also will not enforce their own bylaws.
I likely will put up a fence, but I’m sad to do so because not needing fences was part of the natural beauty of the place.
Move? Exactly? Where can one move to get away from this Airbnb plague? It’s everywhere.
Thanks for the feedback. Local authorities are very well aware of the situation (because I’ve been there numerous times to let them know how their negligence is affecting us). Our town is full of residents complaining about how all the Airbnb’s are ruining everything. The town went to the trouble of passing an ordinance to regulate SVRTs and -surprise! NO ONE applied for a permit. When I went to code enforcement they said, “there’s nothing we can do.” Our town council is, to put it diplomatically, a joke, which is why I was wondering whether airbnb’s Neighbor Complaint line was legitimate or just fluff to look like they “care.”
A letter to Santa. Ha ha! As I suspected, based on Airbnb’s demonstrated pride in thuggishness. They’re simply making too much money without any guardrails to give a crap about how they are ruining neighborhoods and wrecking affordable housing.
I’ve read on various websites that you can sue your neighbor in small claims for disturbing the peace, etc. but you need righteous documentation, the kind you need to invest in serious recording equipment to hold up in court, but it has been successfully done. I’d rather have hemorrhoid surgery than get involved in a lawsuit.
Several towns have citizen groups that formed to combat this plague. Palm Springs is being sued for failing to enforce zoning laws that prohibit running a business in a residential area. This is probably the only thing that will spur meaningful action, sadly. Airbnbers seem to have no morals or conscience.
What might be effective is if they need to register with the local authorities to operate as a bnb. Does he or she own if they are renting maybe subleasing illegally…Are they paying taxes on their income. Not sure if any earnings under $10k a year is issued a 1099…Airbnb does NO due diligence in screening “Hosts” So if rental is illegal or guilty of tax evasion you may have some recourse. Good luck! I will NEVER use Airbnb again!
It’s about as effective as a letter to Santa
You need to keep a track record of police complaints / audio and/or video recordings / photos. Then figure out via the local council who owns the property. Have a lawyer send a firm letter and report owner to tax office. Indeed, this is very elaborate but many Airbnb hosts are in the game for big bucks so the only way to target them is in their wallet. Best of luck!
I reported to air bnb a neighbor on my street that was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon. I was told told they would investigate as a assault conviction is against air bnb TOS (terms of service) agreement.
https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/tag/anastasia-atwil/
I reported this back in September of 2017, she still has 3 bedrooms in a 4 bedroom single family home listed on air bnb website.