Ask HN: How Should Airbnb Respond to Trespassing?

#1

Post by sirrele » Wed, Sep 25, 2019, 7:33 AM UTC

I like Airbnb from the viewpoint as a guest. My partner and I were recently talking about doing Airbnb in the new home we are going to be purchasing soon. Our first concern is safety and what a friend of mine has experienced with Airbnb is far from safe.

I traveled for work and stayed with my friend and he is also one of the leaders of our leadership team at MindRight. We got back to Brooklyn from our office in the Audible building in Newark around 4 pm. We both heard cats fighting in the rooms that the Airbnb guest was staying in. The door was locked. There were never keys given to that room.

The Airbnb guest ended up getting back to the apartment around 8 pm. He informed us that he changed the lock. We legitimately were shocked.. imagine someone changing the locks to one of your rooms in your home.

The individual that was asked to leave didn’t agree to give back the keys to the home, the room or the front door. After multiple calls, Airbnb said that they wouldn’t remove the reservation and couldn’t do anything, We called the police.

The police ultimately communicated that he was now trespassing and needed to leave immediately. My friend and his husband offered to allow him to keep all of his stuff (over 20 large black bags that piled over 3 feet into the air on the bed, closet, and floor) and his 4 cats, which he declined.

The last call after 1 am, was the only time Airbnb removed the reservation because we informed them the police were involved and removed the individual. Airbnb informed us that they have seen this type of thing before and leave it up to the host to handle these types of situations.

As a CTO and a leader, I am very understanding of mistakes on all levels of operations, however, they are not ignored. As a soon to be father and homeowner, I can never feel safe doing Airbnb. Airbnb should not feel comfortable with these situations or how they resolved them.

Re: Ask HN: How Should Airbnb Respond to Trespassing?

#2

Post by szggzs27 » Wed, Sep 25, 2019, 7:43 AM UTC

AirBnb is scum and I hope it gets regulated to death.

Two years ago my friend rented her room for two nights. The person who rented it didn't like it, and demanded his money back after the first night. Instead of going through the usual AirBnb route, the man took her keys with him and demanded she goes to meet him at a random hotel with cash to get the keys back.

Airbnb refused to provide any assistance and said that it is within the guests right to do so (lol). Police were called on a premise of extortion to resolve the situation.

I hope Airbnb goes bankrupt.

Re: Ask HN: How Should Airbnb Respond to Trespassing?

#3

Post by mytailorisrich » Wed, Sep 25, 2019, 8:23 AM UTC

The issue is that using AirBnb to let your home is simple and that people do not do their homework or realise what letting property entails.

AirBnb is only a glorified advertisement and payment platform. They cannot do anything about this sort of issues. There are not a letting agent. They are not a substitute from knowing what letting property entails.

Re: Ask HN: How Should Airbnb Respond to Trespassing?

#4

Post by quickthrower2 » Wed, Sep 25, 2019, 10:49 AM UTC

mytailorisrich wrote: post #3

The issue is that using AirBnb to let your home is simple and that people do not do their homework or realise what letting property entails. AirBnb is only a glorified advertisement and payment platform. They cannot do anything about this sort of issues. There are not a letting agent. They are not a substitute from knowing what letting property entails.

Airbnb is nothing like letting property though. Letting property involves bonds and background checks. There are no cleaners fees, different people coming and going. Letting a place out is easier than Airbnb and a management agency can do a lot of it for you. It’s also generally a legal thing to do and not in violation of agreements you have with other tenants or management of an apartment block or the council or city.

Re: Ask HN: How Should Airbnb Respond to Trespassing?

#5

Post by mytailorisrich » Wed, Sep 25, 2019, 10:58 AM UTC

quickthrower2 wrote: post #4

mytailorisrich wrote: post #3

The issue is that using AirBnb to let your home is simple and that people do not do their homework or realise what letting property entails. AirBnb is only a glorified advertisement and payment platform. They cannot do anything about this sort of issues. There are not a letting agent. They are not a substitute from knowing what letting property entails.

Airbnb is nothing like letting property though. Letting property involves bonds and background checks. There are no cleaners fees, different people coming and going. Letting a place out is easier than Airbnb and a management agency can do a lot of it for you. It’s also generally a legal thing to do and not in violation of agreements you have with other tenants or management of an apartment block or the council or cit…

Using Airbnb is letting property. As I commented, owners ignore this at their peril.

If you are bound by covenants not to let or sublet then using AirBnb would definitely be a breach.

Re: Ask HN: How Should Airbnb Respond to Trespassing?

#6

Post by vectorEQ » Wed, Sep 25, 2019, 11:35 AM UTC

mytailorisrich wrote: post #3

The issue is that using AirBnb to let your home is simple and that people do not do their homework or realise what letting property entails. AirBnb is only a glorified advertisement and payment platform. They cannot do anything about this sort of issues. There are not a letting agent. They are not a substitute from knowing what letting property entails.

agree. what do ppl expect? that airbnb sends by some bouncers to kick the dude out?? what the hell. even if they would take down some contract or reservation, there's no guarantee that will do anything for the situation. the person is already clearly disregarding these kinds of agreements in the first place :S

Re: Ask HN: How Should Airbnb Respond to Trespassing?

#7

Post by buboard » Wed, Sep 25, 2019, 1:17 PM UTC

I m not sure i understand what happened. The story is written badly. who s mindright? What does Audible have to do with it? Did your friend rent a house in airbnb? who was asked to leave?

Re: Ask HN: How Should Airbnb Respond to Trespassing?

#8

Post by buboard » Wed, Sep 25, 2019, 1:23 PM UTC

mytailorisrich wrote: post #3

The issue is that using AirBnb to let your home is simple and that people do not do their homework or realise what letting property entails. AirBnb is only a glorified advertisement and payment platform. They cannot do anything about this sort of issues. There are not a letting agent. They are not a substitute from knowing what letting property entails.

in other words, airbnb externalizes the cost of whatever dispute to the public services, and only accepts responsibility for things like payment disputes. Just like how uber externalizes the cost of dangerous drivers to the police , or how airlines externalize pollution

When these costs become significant, regulation should make landlords responsible or taxable to recover the costs.

Re: Ask HN: How Should Airbnb Respond to Trespassing?

#9

Post by mytailorisrich » Wed, Sep 25, 2019, 1:33 PM UTC

buboard wrote: post #8

mytailorisrich wrote: post #3

The issue is that using AirBnb to let your home is simple and that people do not do their homework or realise what letting property entails. AirBnb is only a glorified advertisement and payment platform. They cannot do anything about this sort of issues. There are not a letting agent. They are not a substitute from knowing what letting property entails.

in other words, airbnb externalizes the cost of whatever dispute to the public services, and only accepts responsibility for things like payment disputes. Just like how uber externalizes the cost of dangerous drivers to the police , or how airlines externalize pollution When these costs become significant, regulation should make landlords responsible or taxable to recover the costs.

No, they don't externalise anything since that's not their responsibility to start with.

There is no passing the buck to public services either. Laws varies per jurisdiction, in general it is for landlords to pay and hopefully recover costs from tenants.

The issue discussed here is not specific to AirBnb and is a well-known issue in property law.

Re: Ask HN: How Should Airbnb Respond to Trespassing?

#10

Post by buboard » Wed, Sep 25, 2019, 1:48 PM UTC

mytailorisrich wrote: post #9

buboard wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

in other words, airbnb externalizes the cost of whatever dispute to the public services, and only accepts responsibility for things like payment disputes. Just like how uber externalizes the cost of dangerous drivers to the police , or how airlines externalize pollution When these costs become significant, regulation should make landlords responsible or taxable to recover the costs.

No, they don't externalise anything since that's not their responsibility to start with. There is no passing the buck to public services either. Laws varies per jurisdiction, in general it is for landlords to pay and hopefully recover costs from tenants. The issue discussed here is not specific to AirBnb and is a well-known issue in property law.

Countries with socialized care tax alcohol and cigarettes because their use costs a lot to the public. Airbnb allows these kind of disputes to multiply like flies, so their line of business, which in some places is very large, will have to be taxed eventually. Whether the tax falls on landlords or airbnb remains to be seen