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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

#31

Post by yequalsx »

zefi wrote: post #22
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 awes…

The only part of your comment that is germane to the GP is that before his roommate left they could cover the rent without renting the third room. "Chris being a good friend" and "His listing was great value" are irrelevant.

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

#32

Post by nsxwolf »

ig1 wrote: post #25
nsxwolf wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'm pretty sure I can get "you can't charge other people money to live here" to stick. A no subletting clause is pretty standard where I'm from and it seems to apply here.

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

#33

Post by fennecfoxen »

hack_edu wrote: post #16
ed209 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"If your landlord was interested in running a tenement home/boarding house/hotel" - then he would have to staff it himself too, promote it and take the risk of no bookings. With a tenant he has someone making sure the place is looked after + he has a contracted income for the whole 12 months. By the sound of this place, the landlord could probably do quite well out of airbnb. But in that case, why not just approach t…

Yes, though if the landlord had a hand in the operation I'd imagine it would have to be a legal business. This means taxes, insurance, wages, administration costs, permits that probably make it more trouble than its worth.

Let's take a moment and see the amazing things that can be accomplished with AirBnB and marvel at the things that we do to ourselves with regulation which could make things like this practically impossible. Stifling business and innovation, deadweight losses to society, and all that economics jazz. Great for the traditional hotel industry, though, and whatever lobbyists they have at City Hall and in Albany...

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

#34

Post by LaGrange »

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…

Actually, the general tone seems to be exceptionally meek: he does say he was surprised, but I got the impression that he thinks he shouldn't be surprised. It reads much more like a "look what an idiot I was, and please don't repeat my mistakes" story than "oh woe is me".

There's a lot of people trying to rent out rooms on AirBnB now, and many of them think it's a "small issue," as likely to be ignored as, say, hosting a close friend for a month or two while they're looking for a flat after an explosive breakup. But it appears that a typical landlord disagrees with that opinion, and some shout-outs to that effect might be really helpful.

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

#35

Post by hack_edu »

zefi wrote: post #22
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 awes…

Thanks, I really appreciate the context; didn't expect it. Though he still has other options... like approaching his roommate about the financial hardship suddenly imposed upon him, leveling with his landlord to get out of the lease, or finding a new (real) roommate.

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

#36

Post by [deleted] »

fennecfoxen wrote: post #33
hack_edu wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, though if the landlord had a hand in the operation I'd imagine it would have to be a legal business. This means taxes, insurance, wages, administration costs, permits that probably make it more trouble than its worth.

Let's take a moment and see the amazing things that can be accomplished with AirBnB and marvel at the things that we do to ourselves with regulation which could make things like this practically impossible. Stifling business and innovation, deadweight losses to society, and all that economics jazz. Great for the traditional hotel industry, though, and whatever lobbyists they have at City Hall and in Albany...

[deleted]

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

#37

Post by [deleted] »

fennecfoxen wrote: post #33
hack_edu wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, though if the landlord had a hand in the operation I'd imagine it would have to be a legal business. This means taxes, insurance, wages, administration costs, permits that probably make it more trouble than its worth.

Let's take a moment and see the amazing things that can be accomplished with AirBnB and marvel at the things that we do to ourselves with regulation which could make things like this practically impossible. Stifling business and innovation, deadweight losses to society, and all that economics jazz. Great for the traditional hotel industry, though, and whatever lobbyists they have at City Hall and in Albany...

[deleted]

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

#38

Post by Locke1689 »

fennecfoxen wrote: post #33
hack_edu wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, though if the landlord had a hand in the operation I'd imagine it would have to be a legal business. This means taxes, insurance, wages, administration costs, permits that probably make it more trouble than its worth.

Let's take a moment and see the amazing things that can be accomplished with AirBnB and marvel at the things that we do to ourselves with regulation which could make things like this practically impossible. Stifling business and innovation, deadweight losses to society, and all that economics jazz. Great for the traditional hotel industry, though, and whatever lobbyists they have at City Hall and in Albany...

Yeah, it's amazing how one can make a lot more money by violating health and safety regulations. Upton Sinclair did a great piece about how amazing it is.

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

#39

Post by hack_edu »

fennecfoxen wrote: post #33
hack_edu wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, though if the landlord had a hand in the operation I'd imagine it would have to be a legal business. This means taxes, insurance, wages, administration costs, permits that probably make it more trouble than its worth.

Let's take a moment and see the amazing things that can be accomplished with AirBnB and marvel at the things that we do to ourselves with regulation which could make things like this practically impossible. Stifling business and innovation, deadweight losses to society, and all that economics jazz. Great for the traditional hotel industry, though, and whatever lobbyists they have at City Hall and in Albany...

True, its easy to go this grasp for this argument in the abstract. Hell, maybe the way they do things in NY is corrupt. But in reality you're grossly oversimplifying a century of progress in public policy.

Labor laws protect the needy and powerless, taxes pay for schools and city services, permits keep us safe and hold businesses accountable if they fuck customers over or violate things like heath codes...

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

#40

Post by pyre »

maratd wrote: post #20
tgrass wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why the amount is important. He did not cause $20,000 in damages to the landlord. At most, he did $20,000 in damages to the hotel down the street.

No, he didn't. But he did do some damage. That's the nature of property, the more it's used, the more damage it accrues. By having "extra" people in the apartment, the property was being depreciated at a greater rate without compensation to the landlord.

I'm unsure that this makes sense. If he had picked up a roommate instead of renting on ABnB, the landlord wouldn't have gotten more money, yet there would more 'more people' causing 'more damage.'
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