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How Airbnb Earned Me $20,000 And A Restraining Order From My Landlord

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Re: How Airbnb Earned Me $20,000 And A Restraining Order From My Landlord

#21

Post by nsxwolf »

darylteo wrote: post #4

Huh... I thought there are usually clauses regarding "subletting" when signing a rental lease? At least where I am anyway, "subletting" is generally frowned on.

I'm a landlord. The language in the lease I use clearly stipulates no subletting.

There are very good reasons for this. I did a background check on my tenant, not every possible person my tenant may randomly hand the keys over to, unsupervised. It's really not the same thing as having guests over.

That said, I'm not opposed to including some kind of pro-Airbnb language in my next lease. This is new territory so I don't know what it should be. A larger security deposit? A cut of the proceeds?

Re: How Airbnb Earned Me $20,000 And A Restraining Order From My Landlord

#22

Post by zefi »

hack_edu wrote: post #7

Again and again, people who use Airbnb to 'hack' the rental market get little sympathy from me when the chickens come to roost. If your landlord was interested in running a tenement home/boarding house/hotel, they wouldn't sign you into a year-long lease. Also, and I know this has been hashed out before on these comment threads but he's grossing $30k a year on the back of his landlord. The landlord has every right to…

"Come on, the guy lives alone in a 3+ bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. We all know he signed that lease specifically to run a pseudo-hotel business under the guise of an Airbnb profile."

Categorically not true. Chris is a good friend, and he had a long term roommate until recently. He took on the lease because he knew they could cover rent whether or not the third room got let out. It is an amazing apartment in an awesome building, and his involvement in airbnb is not cynical or presumptuous. His listing was great value and he is an excellent host. I met him through airbnb and am incredibly grateful for it. So, try not to presume.

Re: How Airbnb Earned Me $20,000 And A Restraining Order From My Landlord

#24

Post by fleitz »

heliodor wrote: post #18

In general, I'd have to agree this is a clear violation of his lease and doesn't deserve sympathy, but have you guys seen the piles and piles of legalese in these New York City leases? The lease itself doesn't deserve sympathy! For example, my lease last year from a private landlord even stipulated I'm not allowed to go to court and must use arbitration instead. I didn't think through it well, but next time I'll know…

See a clause like that would be handy in a case like this, no restraining order because the landlord can't use the court.

Re: How Airbnb Earned Me $20,000 And A Restraining Order From My Landlord

#25

Post by ig1 »

nsxwolf wrote: post #21
darylteo wrote: post #4

Huh... I thought there are usually clauses regarding "subletting" when signing a rental lease? At least where I am anyway, "subletting" is generally frowned on.

I'm a landlord. The language in the lease I use clearly stipulates no subletting. There are very good reasons for this. I did a background check on my tenant, not every possible person my tenant may randomly hand the keys over to, unsupervised. It's really not the same thing as having guests over. That said, I'm not opposed to including some kind of pro-Airbnb language in my next lease. This is new territory so I don…

What's in your lease might not matter, leases often contain clauses which are completely unenforceable which courts can freely choose to ignore if they believe the term is unreasonable.

Re: How Airbnb Earned Me $20,000 And A Restraining Order From My Landlord

#26

Post by deelowe »

msrpotus wrote: post #6
debacle wrote: post #3

Title should read "How using AirBnB without first consulting my lease earned me $20,000 and a restraining order from my landlord."

But people violate leases in little ways all the time. As long as the renters didn't cause any additional problems, I don't see what the big deal is.

I'm a landlord and my wife works in property management. Here's why this is a big deal:

You're technically violating contract law and opening yourself and the landloard up to a ton of liability by doing this. Leasing and renting is much more complex than simply letting someone sleep over at your property. A property owner can get in some serious trouble if something were to happen (someone gets hurt, robbed, etc..) and he/she hasn't taken the correct steps to protect his/herself. Not to mention the issues around covenants, local ordinances/regulations, taxes, mortgages, and insurance.

Re: How Airbnb Earned Me $20,000 And A Restraining Order From My Landlord

#27

Post by fleitz »

nsxwolf wrote: post #21
darylteo wrote: post #4

Huh... I thought there are usually clauses regarding "subletting" when signing a rental lease? At least where I am anyway, "subletting" is generally frowned on.

I'm a landlord. The language in the lease I use clearly stipulates no subletting. There are very good reasons for this. I did a background check on my tenant, not every possible person my tenant may randomly hand the keys over to, unsupervised. It's really not the same thing as having guests over. That said, I'm not opposed to including some kind of pro-Airbnb language in my next lease. This is new territory so I don…

The room is free, but the breakfast costs $150 :)

Re: How Airbnb Earned Me $20,000 And A Restraining Order From My Landlord

#29

Post by fennecfoxen »

pixelbath wrote: post #9
msrpotus wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But people violate leases in little ways all the time. As long as the renters didn't cause any additional problems, I don't see what the big deal is.

Breach of contract is generally considered a "big deal" by most lawyers and judges.

Yeah... this is why the San Francisco rental market is a joke. I'm pretty sure the standard SFAA lease is more or less designed to be broken, so that the landlord can toss you out if he needs to (because otherwise the inane rent board regulations would keep him from doing so even in a legitimate situation).

On top of that you have landlords who tell you "oh, such and such won't be a problem" even though it says in the lease that it's a problem and that the lease comprises the whole of the agreement. (cough hi, J Warvro and Associates, it's me again cough) And no one wants to modify it because it's too legally risky.

Re: How Airbnb Earned Me $20,000 And A Restraining Order From My Landlord

#30

Post by deelowe »

maratd wrote: post #19
msrpotus wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But people violate leases in little ways all the time. As long as the renters didn't cause any additional problems, I don't see what the big deal is.

It's not up to you to determine what is a "little" thing and what's a "big" thing. It's up to the people who signed the contract. Apparently, the landlord thinks it's a big thing. In fact, I never met a landlord who didn't. They always verbally specified that I am not to run a boarding house, on top of it being in the lease. Probably because I was a college kid and well, rent to a college kid and you get a boarding h…

Actually, it's because the landlord could get sued or even end up going to jail due to stuff you did if his contract doesn't protect him from issues resulting from the sublease. The #1 concern with being a landlord is liability.
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