Banned from Airbnb over Background Check

Posted on February 27, 2022

I just recently logged onto Airbnb to book a trip to Phoenix with my partner. As soon as I booked the trip and included him on the itinerary, I was locked out of my account. When I told him what happened, he noticed he was locked out of his account also. I kept trying to reset my password, but the screen never refreshed and I continued to stay locked out.

I called customer service three times. They kept giving me the runaround and said that someone would contact me in 2-24 hours. This did not happen. By the end of 24 hours, I had read many a forum response about numerous others who were banned permanently from Airbnb. I learned that the best way to get a response was via their social media, so I contacted them on Airbnb Help via Twitter.

Someone responded promptly to let me know that a Support Ambassador would reach out to me via email. Someone from the Trust Team later reached out to inform me that Airbnb could no longer support my account, and that I would not be able to create a new one. Meanwhile, my partner informed me that he received an email from Airbnb’s background check company Inflection that there was a criminal records’ match to his name and account. He was banned because of a conviction from 20 years ago… that he had already recently received a pardon for.

The crazy part is, we have traveled for many years on Airbnb with no problem. It was likely that going through the hard work of obtaining the pardon had triggered a change in his report, which ended up showing up on his Inflection report. I, therefore, was banned by association. I was banned because I booked a trip that included him.

We had not gone on the trip yet, I had simply paid for it and put his name and email down to receive the itinerary. I haven’t so much as missed one single day of school between Kindergarten and 12th grade (I kid you not) and I am now banned permanently from Airbnb.

As I stated before, we have traveled with Airbnb for years and have only received positive reviews on both of our accounts. We are Chicago children’s party entertainers (jugglers, face painters, and balloon twisters) who strive to bring positivity to the children, family, and world around us. Airbnb has allowed us to do this in an affordable fashion. We booked our first ever Airbnb for our first ever gig where my partner married two people as a nonspeaking mime.

It is incredibly disappointing that Airbnb would treat us or any people this way. I keep contacting them on Airbnb Help and have even gone so far as to email Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia personally. My partner has uploaded all of his pardon paperwork onto Inflection. We are both still banned. I am waiting to see if someone else responds about my appeal, but I don’t have high hopes considering all of the things I have read about other people who have been banned for outrageously smaller things.

I would like us all to come together to enact change. It might be easy to ignore a few small voices, but if we speak together as one full voice, perhaps we will be heard. No one should be punished for taking a positive action in their life, and it doesn’t feel right that a periphery person is punished also as collateral. This feels discriminatory.

If I cannot get some movement via this post, I would like to look into contacting the press to share my story. Please reach out to me if you have any contacts or ideas.

Criminal Conviction Ten Years Ago and Still Being Punished

Posted on December 13, 2021

I’m going to try and make this short and detailed. Over 10 years ago I was convicted of a felony. I was sentenced and completed the sentence. Since then, I have become a productive member of society, and have started a family. My life today is a complete 180 from where it was 10 years ago.

I recently went on a business trip. My company usually uses Airbnb but we have to use our own account to get reimbursed. This is my first time traveling for this company so I have never used Airbnb before. I went on the app, searched for the perfect spot for three nights and then signed up and completed the reservation. After that I got an email asking for my photo ID, which I sent rather quickly. It seemed like everything was fine.

A day before I was scheduled to leave town and arrive at the host’s place, I got an email stating my account had been permanently deactivated and my reservation cancelled and refunded. Now I was in a bit of a predicament. Sure, my company knows about my criminal history but I still had to contact a supervisor and get approval to use a different OTA to book a hotel. I don’t know who within the company knows about my criminal history, but I know that the supervisor I had to contact did not. The revelation did not sit well with him, but that’s another story.

The embarrassment of having to tell someone (a coworker) I couldn’t use Airbnb was devastating. I find it ridiculous that they can do this. I completely understand that the “hosts” are sometimes renting out their own homes and there is a certain risk that comes with this. But if Airbnb actually did research when a questionable background check presented itself, they would see that they are punishing some people beyond what they should be.

Account Deactivated Over a Dismissed Felony Charge

Posted on May 31, 2021

I recently started an account with Airbnb for a reservation for my family and myself. I paid for it, got the email confirmation, and was so happy. Thirty minutes later I got an email saying that I did not pass the background check. The problem was they had a DUI from over seven years ago on there three times. The real kicker is, a felony theft charge that was dismissed is what ultimately got my account deactivated.

This is completely unacceptable. This is discrimination and they are treating me as if I was found guilty. United States law states you are innocent until proven guilty. I was proven to be innocent; the charges were dropped yet Airbnb is treating me as if I was found guilty. I’ve called Airbnb and gotten no help. I called the third-party background check vendor and of course they are getting the process started. It will probably take 60 days before the situation with my DUI is corrected. However what ultimately will count me out with Airbnb is a dismissed case.

This is completely prejudiced of Airbnb. I have never been treated or excluded from anything in my life due to that dismissal case, and I do hold a professional license in the medical field. Yet Airbnb does not care to rent to me. This blows my mind. Part of me absolutely wants to contact a lawyer.

Same Name, Same Crimes to Airbnb, Apparently

Posted on August 28, 2020

In short, I’m moving. My father got a new job in Texas and while the house is finishing we needed a place to stay. We use Airbnb. We made this reservation months ahead of time. In the middle of the night a few days before we moved, they cancelled. According to Airbnb, my father had a criminal record. Weird, because he doesn’t have one. They claim that he committed a violent crime in 1992 in a different city. Some brainlet at Airbnb probably uses Google with a name and state to check someone’s background. So some guy they Googled with the same name and state is now my father I guess. It doesn’t work like that. I’m now using Elon Musk’s naming scheme from now on so non-diligent companies won’t mistake me for someone else who committed murder in 1854. Absolute troglodytes over there.

Superhost Account Deactivated Without Reason

Posted on November 22, 2019

Over a week ago from the time of this writing, I logged into my Airbnb account only to find all of my bookings (over $1000 worth) had disappeared. There was no indication of why this would’ve happened except an email sent that afternoon (which appeared to be a virus) that a “random” background check was performed on me by their company (Inflection Safe Decision API), and that as a result, Airbnb made the decision to “permanently deactivate” my Superhost account. Several guests (some repeat guests) were forced to inconveniently alter their plans and find other accommodations.

Immediate calls to Airbnb Support yielded nothing, as I was informed the decision fell to their “Trust Department,” for whom they not only had no phone number or were able to transfer me to, but indicated would not respond to an email for 2-3 business days. Having no other options, I decided to take the risk of opening the link in this suspicious email. It led to a report of a criminal charge from nearly three years ago in which it stated clearly in its outcome that all charges had been dismissed.

At the end of a two-day wait (Friday evening), I received an email from Airbnb Community Support stating that my Superhost account was removed due to this criminal record, and stated “this is a violation of the Airbnb Community Standards.” However, nowhere in these standards does it state that it is a violation to be charged with a crime. I point this out in an email, stating that any innocent host or guest could potentially be charged with a crime at any point for numerous reasons beyond one’s control, but what matters is a conviction. I asked where in these standards was the “violation” they referred to.

After five days and further loss of income, I got no response and decided to email again. After a day of calls and emails, I received a generic apology for the delay. Shockingly, it also stated, entirely falsely, that “the public records that were used in this determination did not show that the charges were dismissed.” I was asked to provide documentation of this outcome in order to have my account reinstated.

A reply has now been sent, where I’ve highlighted the plainly stated outcome of a “dismissal” within the very same public record which they used against me. While I have ample evidence of my innocence. Not only does it remain to be seen if my Superhost account with its hundreds of glowing reviews will be reinstated, but Airbnb has not refunded the several hundreds of dollars in lost income that they caused.

If there ever was an ‘Airbnb nightmare’ for a host, surely this exemplifies it. That Airbnb does nothing to inform a host of this “random” action is bad enough, but it appears they cannot even bother to review the information their own background check company provides them before or after deciding to take devastating action on it. Their complete lack of lines of communication for hosts and cancelled guests in such a matter is equally inexcusable. I never imagined Airbnb, who has previously provided outstanding customer service, would treat a Superhost with such inflexible negligence.

Account Mistakenly Deactivated Twice in One Week

Posted on September 12, 2019

My Airbnb account was deactivated twice in one week, both because of mistakes by Airbnb and their awful background checker, Inflection Risk Solutions, LLC. Both times I had an active reservation booked, and subsequently canceled, because they deactivated my account. I was refunded for both, but I was livid each time, as it was a huge inconvenience and their reasons for deactivating me were wrong.

The first one last week was because they had claimed I did not complete their “account verification” procedures, which I actually had done prior to making the active reservation I had at the time of deactivation. In fact, their app would not allow me to book without completing the account verification. It was simply uploading a picture of my driver’s license.

It took two days of silence before I heard back from them with a very short email stating they made a mistake and my account had been reactivated. The following day, their Love Team (that’s what it’s called), sent me a much nicer email along with a $100 coupon to use in the future for being inconvenienced. That was a nice thing to do as I had not asked for any compensation.

Cut to this week. I had made another reservation for a business trip. Yesterday I got emails from Airbnb stating my account was being permanently deactivated because a background check found a criminal history and my reservation had been canceled.

I was shocked. I have never been arrested in my life, let alone convicted of any crimes. I wondered if speeding tickets could get me kicked off of Airbnb. They had a link to my report from the awful background check company, which I looked at and listed in the report were three speeding tickets, all valid but expunged from my record. And one entry for a robbery committed in Baltimore in 1999 by someone with my same first and last name and birth date.

Keep in mind I have a very common name. This wasn’t me, but now I had to prove it. I have never been in Baltimore. I was living and working in California at the time this happened. But how do you prove you were not in a place on a specific date? Think about that for a minute. It’s not going to be easy proving you were not somewhere 20 years ago.

Luckily my wife had her wits about her (I was livid) and suggested I call the police department in Baltimore and maybe they have a mug shot or something that would show it’s not me. Maybe he’s a different race and the difference would be obvious. Great idea.

I couldn’t reach the police very easily, and so I called the courthouse where it showed he was convicted. A very nice woman answered and when I told her my dilemma she was very understanding and started to look for the record. She first said I think records that old were destroyed, which made my heart sink. Then she said she found it and listed the guy’s height and weight and eye color (different than me) and race, but we are the same race.

And then….his middle name. Bingo. Different middle name. She asked me to wait a couple minutes while she went to the basement to pull the report and then emailed me a full copy of the court record and police report. She was my angel.

I had emailed three executives based on email addresses someone had posted on Google, as well as the Love Team about my plight. I also messaged their Facebook account and opened a complaint with the BBB. I sent the proof showing this person who only matched my first and last name and birthday was not me. It’s appalling that only that level of match is enough to be accused of being a felon.

To my surprise, later that day I received two messages from Airbnb, one on my reinstated account apologizing and offering to help resolve the issue. Another from the Love Team with a similar message. They also reactivated my coupon and upped it to $200. Okay. I had hoped they would have rebooked my reservation and not charged me for it, but wishful thinking.

I don’t know if the amazing Inflection Risk Solutions, LLC background checking company has reviewed my evidence yet. I originally filled out their dispute form saying I wasn’t ever in Baltimore and had never been arrested in my life. That’s really all I could say at the immediate time of the dispute because I hadn’t discovered the irrefutable evidence until later in the day.

I was not allowed to modify my dispute, but I was able to upload documents, which I did and a text file as well explaining the evidence. They have 30 days, according to their response, to get back to me.

I am hoping Airbnb helps to clear the record. I am unsure whether to book again on Airbnb. I know that will surprise people, but I love the app. Their bookings are so much less expensive than VRBO, which I ended up using last week since I didn’t know if I would get my account reinstated. And their review requirements are by far superior.

I won’t use them for the business trip I have coming up because I cannot risk them deactivating me again a few days before the actual trip. I will likely use them for personal trips only. If they do it to me again, I will be done. But ultimately, they did hear me and reinstate me both times, so maybe that’s a little bit of progress.

Communicating with them is rough. Their phone customer service people are completely useless. Only after complaining loudly to the executives and the FB site did I get any results. And I have no idea if any executives actually received or read my emails.

Think hard about what happened to me and if the records for that guy’s arrest and conviction had been destroyed, how would I prove I wasn’t him and in Baltimore in August of 1999, 20 years ago. I don’t keep records that old. It is frightening thinking I would have to prove my innocence when falsely accused of something.

Background checks should never be half-assed and not use something that uniquely identifies someone, like a SSN. This company is making money using what amounts to a scraping algorithm to declare someone a felon. That should be illegal.

Airbnb Destroys 10th Anniversary Celebration

Posted on July 1, 2018

At 11:55 AM on June 21st, I was enjoying an amazing time with my wife of ten years, driving up the coast without a care in the world. Little did I know that Airbnb had just decided to blow up our long planned anniversary trip. When I had first started planning, I was hesitant about using Airbnb because I worried about the potential for homeowners to make sudden changes. However, I was assured by friends that Airbnb had always worked out extremely well for them, so I decided to go for it.

On March 27th, nearly three months before our trip, we booked our stays and were extremely excited. We paid in full, paid off our credit card, and were so eager for our getaway. Fast forward to our actual trip, and once I got wifi access later in the evening, I discovered an email informing me that our bookings had been cancelled without explanation. We had no place to stay, on a weekend, in June.

Panic set in quickly. We called customer support but were only told that it was for a ‘technical reason.’ We were told it would be escalated, but who knows when we might get a response. It was only later that the explanation email arrived and we knew what ‘a technical reason’ meant, which was that somehow I’d been tagged as having failed a background check.

I’m a pragmatist. I understand that businesses must minimize risk. However, the onus must be on the business to minimize their risk in a way that does not harm their customers, that does not strand them 2000 miles from home. When I found out the real reason for my cancellation, I immediately filed a dispute. As expected, that dispute was resolved in my favor, because the information provided to Airbnb was in error. However, winning the dispute eight days later doesn’t fix the emotional turmoil that Airbnb caused on what was supposed to be an amazing trip. It doesn’t give me back those lost hours with my wife where we were both crying and agonizing.

Had Airbnb made this mistake in March, three months ago, it could have been easily corrected. I’d have disputed, and everything would have been fine. However, because Airbnb decided to do so the day before our stay, we had no recourse or remedy. Brainstorming, we tried to sign up my wife and have her book the stays, but she was also denied. She was told that because she was connected to me, she was blocked as well. My wife was devastated when she was told that, because she was married to me, she wasn’t allowed to have an Airbnb account, either.

The follow up email that Airbnb sent to her was brutal, and brought her to tears yet again. Not exactly the emotion one is going for on an anniversary. Airbnb did its absolute best to destroy our long planned, long saved for trip. It hurt us both financially and, more importantly, emotionally. This is the kind of story you only read about; you never think it will happen to you. Now that it has happened to me, I do think people should read about it. It seems like exactly the kind of publicity that Airbnb deserves. Wouldn’t you agree?

Account Terminated For Family Connections

Posted on June 26, 2018

I have been a host with Airbnb for 18 months. Most of that time I was a Superhost. Two days before my guest was to arrive, Airbnb terminated my account saying that I have a criminal record. Mind you, I have never been to jail. Airbnb sent an email stating I should dispute this matter if the information is incorrect. I called Inflection Risk Solutions to dispute this matter and they told me Airbnb sent them one of my family member’s information which does not have anything to do with Airbnb. They also ran a background check on my family member which is totally illegal. How they obtained this information I don’t know.

In other words, Airbnb terminated my account because of a family member who has nothing to do with Airbnb. Inflection Risk Solutions, the company Airbnb uses for background checks, said Airbnb is totally out of line for terminating my account for a family member who doesn’t even have an account with Airbnb. Inflection Risk Solutions said Airbnb sent them the wrong information and that they should correct that by sending the right information. They are refusing to do this.

I’ve invested thousands of dollars into my property for an Airbnb account and no one is hearing me. I need help because first of all if you are a business as Airbnb you just can’t run backgrounds on who you feel you want to. Secondly, I don’t have a criminal record so if this is their reason for terminating my account that is false. I was booked six months in advance and now I’m sitting with an empty house making phone calls to Airbnb daily.