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Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

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Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am missing something: which house rules did the author break?

Dog on porch. Some people consider that a breach of the rules. Personally, I wouldn't think it was - the dog didn't enter the house and was only there temporarily. No different than a neighbor walking the dog up for a chat, or a cat/bear/deer/squirrel entering the property.

Why should the landlord believe the renter's claim that the dog stayed on the porch 100% of the time, when he just admitted to lying about the dog being on the property?

> Then he started going on about there being a poop on his property

Really irks me how the author dismisses the landlord's complaint about the dog shitting on his property in this sentence. The landlord has a no pets policy, why should he have to clean up after your friends dog?

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, if you only know someone had a pet because you spied on them I tend to think you're just being nosy. Obviously it doesn't apply here specifically, but there's a reason evidence obtained illegally can't be used to prosecute criminals. If we accept that two wrongs make a right then everyone is just worse off.

"Evidence obtained illegally" applies to criminal trials. These people were not facing even a civil trial -- they were facing being blacklisted and/or not getting their deposit back.

That's why I prefaced the statement with

>Obviously it doesn't apply here specifically

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Service dogs exist and are required to be allowed (by Airbnb and VRBO policy, possibly by law depending on location). It is also forbidden to ask about them, require proof that they are trained/certified, or anything else like that. If you have a severe allergy to animals, you shouldn't be renting your home to random strangers.

I dropped on an edit. I don't consider service animals pets. Having worked with the public in a variety of retail and volunteer capacities over the years I would agree, and expand, to say that short term rentals of your home to strangers is always a bad idea. People are, for the most part, poor stewards of anything that doesn't belong to them, and terrible at following rules.

Agreed - service animals are not pets. Just want to make sure others know the distinction. And that service animals are generally allowed anywhere a person is allowed (often by law).

My parents had a beach home rental for years. It was a gigantic pain in the butt. Tenants would break furniture, steal things, and generally treat the house poorly (with zero recourse, as the the house was 5 hours from primary residence and "managed" by a rental agency). Only "upside" was this was priced into the fees. I don't think I would ever do short-term rentals to a remote house - too much risk, too much work.

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#94
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dog on porch. Some people consider that a breach of the rules. Personally, I wouldn't think it was - the dog didn't enter the house and was only there temporarily. No different than a neighbor walking the dog up for a chat, or a cat/bear/deer/squirrel entering the property.

Why should the landlord believe the renter's claim that the dog stayed on the porch 100% of the time, when he just admitted to lying about the dog being on the property? > Then he started going on about there being a poop on his property Really irks me how the author dismisses the landlord's complaint about the dog shitting on his property in this sentence. The landlord has a no pets policy, why should he have to cle…

Why assume it was the renter's/friend's dog and not some random loose animal? Also, to many people "at the house" means "in the house" - certainly, that's how I interpret it. I wouldn't think twice about a friend stopping by with a dog that remained outside.

The last Airbnb I rented had a "mystery pooper" - gigantic dog poops in the yard every morning. Turns out a neighbor's hound had the run of the area and liked to poop there. I only know it because I heard it outside one night and got the exterior light flipped on just in time. I sure wasn't picking them up - not my dog, not mine to clean up.

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Politicians lie. What surveillance are they subjected to in order to prevent and correct their behaviour?

Lol this seems like a terrible example, because i _do_ want surveillance/oversight on politicians.

Like the Airbnb host, politicians aren’t going to surveil themselves.

Although the NSA could be monitoring and blackmailing the American political leadership…

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#96
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would a hotel do that? Cameras in the lobby, the hallways and the elevators, sure. But in a hotel room? That's a great way to kill your business in no time.

Yes, that's my point in asking. AirBnb's have never been appealing to me, neither as a host nor as a guest, for just these kinds of reasons (i.e. lack of regulation like a regular hotel is under). I'm sure it's great for many, but I know of no towns or neighborhoods that express anything positive about the impact and effect AirBnbs have had on them -- _generally_, it's the opposite. https://www.alternativetravelers.c…

Me neither. That's the premise of a horror movie now. You don't know anything about the place and neither Airbnb.

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#97

If cell phone signal is good enough for decent internet coverage at your rental, just unplug the router so you don't have to worry about being watched all the time. One of the benefits of everything going cloud-based is that most of these stupid devices don't work without wifi/internet.

If a guest were to try this at my Airbnb, I have in my house rules that guests may not disable security devices and an onsite inspection will be performed if they do. And that's exactly the type of guest I would immediately terminate their stay.

[deleted]

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#98

Well this sounds very creepy, but imagine for a moment that the landlord might only be checking if there's child pornography going on at his house, then I guess it would be ok. Also he pinky sweared not to share those images with anyone else. Now imagine the landlord is not a person but instead a fluffy cloud...

Meta

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes things just happen. Maybe a friend comes by to say hi and brings their little doggy, unaware of your host's policy. Now, if I had read "no pets, we are very allergic and it can cause serious health problems" I will tell me friend to get the hell off the porch immediately! If it's simply a standard "no pets, no parties, blah blah" it probably wouldn't even occur to me that a dog on the porch could possibly b…

I become frustrated with people find or create "nuance" rather than when things just happen. There's a certain kind of person who seems to instinctively look for ways to edge just beyond breaking rules. It's usually for their convenience, and sometimes to get an unfair advantage. It's galling.

I become frustrated with people who don't appreciate nuance and assume the worst in people who don't view the world exactly as they do.

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes things just happen. Maybe a friend comes by to say hi and brings their little doggy, unaware of your host's policy. Now, if I had read "no pets, we are very allergic and it can cause serious health problems" I will tell me friend to get the hell off the porch immediately! If it's simply a standard "no pets, no parties, blah blah" it probably wouldn't even occur to me that a dog on the porch could possibly b…

I become frustrated with people find or create "nuance" rather than when things just happen. There's a certain kind of person who seems to instinctively look for ways to edge just beyond breaking rules. It's usually for their convenience, and sometimes to get an unfair advantage. It's galling.

Sounds like your the type of person who most definitely shouldn't be renting any property to people.

The simple fact is...when you start accepting money to allow others to use your stuff, things out of your control are going to happen. Of course, I'm not excusing these "certain type of people" you are discussing (I think most of us call those people "assholes"), but as they say...shit happens.

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