Woman Shares Her Terrible Experience As An Airbnb Host, And It Shows How Dangerous It Can Be
Recently, a young woman named Alavia Khawaja took to Twitter to share her terrible experience while renting a room in her apartment via Airbnb. She rented one of her rooms out to a man named Leonard Jackson, who not only stole from her but was caught carrying three pistols with him.
Alavia says Airbnb did absolutely nothing to help her and even though she is okay physically, the whole situation has still taken a toll on her. “I don’t know where the man is right now. The police don’t really update me..at all so I think even if they arrested him, they wouldn’t tell me”, she said in an interview with Bored Panda. Alavia advises people to not rent their home to strangers and report everything right away if you feel sketched out. “Be persistent in the face of adversity, so then if something happens you can show you tried. Imagine if I gave up contacting help after being brushed aside in the beginning.”
Alavia says she is definitely done with renting her home out, especially since after her terrible encounter two other women had to deal with the same man and neither Airbnb nor police took any actions to help them. Not only that, but many people put blame on the victim by saying it was Alavia’s fault for getting herself into a situation like that, ” Those who say it is my fault have their focus on the wrong subject. Teach people to treat others with respect, as opposed to stressing how to keep disrespectful people at bay.”
Scroll down to read her story, and don’t forget to tell us in the comments what you think.
More info: Alavia Khawaja
Recently a young woman named Alavia Khawaja took to Twitter to share how dangerous renting your room on Airbnb can be
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Share on FacebookSounds like the guy has serious mental health issues, lets hope this goes no further than this as he seems to have stalking tendencies.
why these downvotes - i would have run a mile from this AirB&B stalker psychopath
Load More Replies...This is f****d up. I'm disappointed at both the police and Airbnb but somehow not really surprised. Could she at least file a restraining order? But that would require her to let him know where she always is (to give him through police her home address and job address and new one if and when she moves or changes jobs) so he knows which places to avoid; at least if shows like Law and Order SVU are to believe.
This story was made up. Conveniently came with mugshots, right?
Load More Replies...This is scary and disgusting and why I am too afraid to use Airbnb and Uber and other such things where you have to trust a complete stranger.
most taxi's have a city operating license thats quite hard to get. An nyc taxi medallion used to be worth like $1.4 million, now its still worth like $180K. Still quite a barrier for crazed rapists to overcome
Load More Replies...I am both shocked and disgusted about the way this was handled by the company and the police. I hope things are better for her in the future.
I'm not shocked. Disgusted, maybe. But to be honest, airBNB isn't going to knock on a paying customer unless they really have to. As for the cops, the theft and stuff... eyah, they're not going to put much effort into chasing that guy down. As for the confession thing... that's a load of bull and a complaint should be made to the appropriate oversight committee.
Load More Replies...diane a: I've read all your comments on this post and reading comprehension isn't your strong suit, is it? You've focused on her looks and not any of the actual story. Try reading it again, but this time read all the words and work real hard on understanding what they actually say. Oh, and stop victim blaming.
I'm gonna state the obvius here, but, Airbnb has this (like uber) reputation system, you can check both host and guest.
There are people who will find airbnb guests through the app, not set up any official booking, and will tell them pay in person rather than pay the company's fees. Perhaps this was that scenario?
Load More Replies...And no one thinks it 's at all weird to admit strangers into your home....
He is a freaking pervert, first he deletes her pictures of guy friends, then he steals cash! Then he is just acting creepy!
Terrifying. I'd move ASAP. We had a four bedroom Airbnb house directly behind us, which renters had leased under the pretense they would be the living there. Residential neighborhood. Instead, they turned it into a hostel, and had eight beds per bedroom. Yes, 32 guests per night, very inexpensive. Two bathrooms. People were having sex in the their cars when chidren were walking to school. Airbnb did nothing.
Airbnb isn't obligated, but there is likely a city or town ordinance against it.
Load More Replies...Sounds like the guy has serious mental health issues, lets hope this goes no further than this as he seems to have stalking tendencies.
why these downvotes - i would have run a mile from this AirB&B stalker psychopath
Load More Replies...This is f****d up. I'm disappointed at both the police and Airbnb but somehow not really surprised. Could she at least file a restraining order? But that would require her to let him know where she always is (to give him through police her home address and job address and new one if and when she moves or changes jobs) so he knows which places to avoid; at least if shows like Law and Order SVU are to believe.
This story was made up. Conveniently came with mugshots, right?
Load More Replies...This is scary and disgusting and why I am too afraid to use Airbnb and Uber and other such things where you have to trust a complete stranger.
most taxi's have a city operating license thats quite hard to get. An nyc taxi medallion used to be worth like $1.4 million, now its still worth like $180K. Still quite a barrier for crazed rapists to overcome
Load More Replies...I am both shocked and disgusted about the way this was handled by the company and the police. I hope things are better for her in the future.
I'm not shocked. Disgusted, maybe. But to be honest, airBNB isn't going to knock on a paying customer unless they really have to. As for the cops, the theft and stuff... eyah, they're not going to put much effort into chasing that guy down. As for the confession thing... that's a load of bull and a complaint should be made to the appropriate oversight committee.
Load More Replies...diane a: I've read all your comments on this post and reading comprehension isn't your strong suit, is it? You've focused on her looks and not any of the actual story. Try reading it again, but this time read all the words and work real hard on understanding what they actually say. Oh, and stop victim blaming.
I'm gonna state the obvius here, but, Airbnb has this (like uber) reputation system, you can check both host and guest.
There are people who will find airbnb guests through the app, not set up any official booking, and will tell them pay in person rather than pay the company's fees. Perhaps this was that scenario?
Load More Replies...And no one thinks it 's at all weird to admit strangers into your home....
He is a freaking pervert, first he deletes her pictures of guy friends, then he steals cash! Then he is just acting creepy!
Terrifying. I'd move ASAP. We had a four bedroom Airbnb house directly behind us, which renters had leased under the pretense they would be the living there. Residential neighborhood. Instead, they turned it into a hostel, and had eight beds per bedroom. Yes, 32 guests per night, very inexpensive. Two bathrooms. People were having sex in the their cars when chidren were walking to school. Airbnb did nothing.
Airbnb isn't obligated, but there is likely a city or town ordinance against it.
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