Talk about a nightmare scenario! While we have all heard about a lot of stories between landlords and tenants over the past few years (and some very close to some of us), this is a new one to me. Sure, we do hear some horror stories sometimes about Airbnb guests and owners but this one is unbelievable.
Airbnb Guest is Squatting for Over 500 Nights Without Paying – and Wants to Be Paid
This story starts out in California in Brentwood (I knew before reading this that it had to take place in California!). The woman at the center of this booked the guest home for 6 months on Airbnb. Her cost was $105 a night. That meant that her six month stay came out to over $20,000. Her stay officially ended in April of 2022.
But, that is when things started getting worse. Initially, it seemed as if the owner and Airbnb customer got along well but then things started getting a little strained. This was due in part to things like the owner discovering mold that he said had not been in the unit before and trying to have the customer move out (while the Airbnb rental was in effect) to a hotel or his own house while he took care of it. He said he wasn’t asking her to move in with him but that she could stay there while it was taken care of or he would give her money for the hotel.
This was all noted in the e-mails and messages that were exchanged between the two. In the end, he approved for her to stay a few extra weeks to find a place but said he couldn’t let her stay longer due to other reservations.
However, at this point, she filed a complaint with the city’s department of building safety with two code violations – that the property wasn’t approved for occupancy and it had a shower that had not had a permit received for it.
In such a circumstance, you would think that maybe the city would order the property to be vacated (due to not having an approved occupancy permit) and the owner fined. Instead, the city told the owner that he could not evict the Airbnb guest (by this time, the contract had expired for her stay) until he brought the house into compliance. The “guest” would not allow the owner in to make any repairs, however.
During all this, the Airbnb guest has been allowed to stay in the home even though her time was up back in April of 2022. And, she says she will not leave until the owner pays her $100,000 for relocation.
Thankfully, these stories are far and few between but it certainly makes you shake your head at how this one turned out! Oh, and it is not over yet so make that 500 days and counting.
Oh, and the Daily Mail says that this renter was kicked out of a rental property in Oakland two months before moving into this Airbnb.
Thankfully, neither of my Airbnb rentals were problematic at all last month!
