“He Is Bleeding Money Of About $6,000 Per Month”: Woman Is Fed Up With Neighbors Making Noise, Accidentally Uncovers And Shuts Down An Illegal Airbnb “Ring”
Never ever anger someone who works the night shift and is trying to get some well-deserved sleep. Otherwise, you’ll paint a target on your back as they transform into Sherlock Holmes (or Batman, or both).
Redditor u/Tunasaladboatcaptain shared a riveting story with the r/pettyrevenge online community about how he and his girlfriend busted an illegal Airbnb ring in their apartment complex. His partner works the night shift, so she sleeps during the day. However, she kept being woken up by the door slamming next door.
That’s when she began noticing that new people kept coming over to stay for very short periods of time. She did some digging online and uncovered someone’s illegal “short-term business empire.” Check out the full story below, as told by the woman’s boyfriend.
A night shift worker kept having her sleep interrupted by the neighbors slamming the door
Image source: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
She soon realized that new people kept showing up at the apartment complex, and this led her down the illegal Airbnb listing rabbit hole
Image source: ConvertKit (not the actual photo)
Image source: Tunasaladboatcaptain
What the redditor’s girlfriend uncovered was shocking. As it turns out, one of their neighbors and his business partner were renting out 4 apartments next door. One of the apartments was a handicap-accessible unit.
“That’s right. This man and his business partner leased an apartment meant for accommodating people with disabilities with the intention of using it for his little short-term business empire he was trying to build. Our city and region (like in other places) has been feeling the squeeze on apartment availability and these dickheads are contributing to the problem,” u/Tunasaladboatcaptain shared his frustration.
That’s when the couple decided that they couldn’t just ignore this. His girlfriend got in touch with the leasing office and they took the situation very seriously. They started an investigation into the matter. The result? The ‘entrepreneur’ was left paying rent on four units without the income from short-term Airbnb stayers to offset his losses. He was forced to vacate the building. And that’s why you don’t mess with someone who works the night shift!
There’s a constant struggle between various cities and illegal Airbnb listings. For instance, New York City, Boston, and Santa Monica, among others in the US, are fighting against short-term leases. There is a shortage of homes, as landlords (and even tenants!) rush to capitalize on short-term Airbnb stays. These are far more lucrative than long-term leases. And guests are often unaware that a listing doesn’t comply with the local laws.
Local laws might differ, but the exhaustion from short-term renters is felt far and wide. Illegal house parties are just the tip of the iceberg. CNBC found that some hosts even instruct their guests to lie and tell anyone who asks that they’re friends of the landlord. There’s a lot of money to be made here, and it’s making life extremely difficult for the locals.
“We’re seeing commercialized, predatory companies that are trying to commercialize our residential communities in ways that are damaging to our citizens and our residents and our quality of life. It is predatory,” Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber told CNBC back in 2018.
The author of the post shared a few more thoughts in the comments
Some people shared their honest opinions about Airbnb and the housing crisis, and opened up about their own rental experiences
I am staying at an Airbnb right this minute. It is nothing like the add says. The list of things that are missing or broken is just too long. I am glad I get to go home tomorrow and leave this place. I never leave negative reviews but this time I have no choice. Last time, in another city, things were not as I expected them and I sent a personal message to the owner to give him the chance to fix things. in my review I was quite friendly and mild. But he never answered my pm and went on renting it the way it was. The reviews are still negative. Not this time. My friendly patience is over.
Why pay through the nose for a vacation space, only to have to do ALL the cleaning and laundry before you get back your deposit? ALWAYS USE A HOTEL/MOTEL. Who wants to CLEAN during a vacation???😳
Load More Replies...Just before the Pandemic I looked into an ABnB for a weekend getaway. The apartment looked nice but it seemed too good to be true. It was comparable to nearby 4 star hotels but didn't have the same guarantee on cancellation policy. We didn't book and looking back we are very lucky because we were able to cancel our hotel reservation in March 2019. I do know someone who has an AB&B but it's run as a bed and breakfast. Homeowner is on site, makes meals but also is zoned properly.
Airbnb for bead and breakfast places sounds like an excellent use of the site. If only it were LIMITED to that sort of thing....
Load More Replies...I expected a story about a drug dealer next door or maybe a prostitution business. Glad the real situation was "safe" even if annoying. We realized many years ago that we lived next to a drug dealer. Nice guy but concerning. What if there was a problem on his side of the wall? Sheetrock wasn't going to stop any bullets. It was like living next to a drive-thru with all the traffic. Not subtle at all. Eventually he got his, caught while dealing too close to a school. Lousy apartments. I was working third shift. Neighbor on the other side would wake up in the morning and have a 120 db stereo show while getting ready. And then he'd depart. He and his missus also had a weekly shout and screaming match. Otherwise chill neighbors. I don't miss apartment life AT ALL. We bought a tiny little house across town after the first year back when those mortgages could be had for something close to the price of rent.
Airbnb is Ok if you stick with the original idea, renting your place or a room when you don't use, not buying flats or houses for this purpose, if you do that you should have to pay hotel taxes and have the same safety rules
I never understand why people would want to stay at AirBnB. You are on a holiday, why would you want to feel at home?
Whenever we visit the states we always hire a house for the stay, we have children so it means were able to put them to bed and stay up rather than us all have to go to bed at the same time if we were in a hotel, it allows us to cook so we dont have to eat out all the time, gives us our own pool rather than share etc, we'd never stay in a hotel now, not with our whole family. If im away with the lads, or my wife is on a girls break thats one thing but for a family? A house or villa works perfectly
Load More Replies...Genuine question yall- I'm honestly trying to understand this . Like can someone kindly explain to me why this is illegal/wrong?? Cause this sounds like their just renting out apartments they shouldnt?? What am I missing here? Please tell me, I'm so confused!!😭
I want to add: the contracts are set up this way for a reason. The apartments, and renters are taxed based on primary residences, so the apartment itself could get into legal trouble. Also, the likelihood of crime goes up when you have lots of people coming and going. If you're expecting to have a family friendly environment, but renters are using AB&B you can't know who you're living around. It also adds traffic to locations which aren't expecting it, and noise. Those things are costly for locals. More traffic, more road maintenance, more police needed, etc. It's just a domino effect.
Load More Replies...I am staying at an Airbnb right this minute. It is nothing like the add says. The list of things that are missing or broken is just too long. I am glad I get to go home tomorrow and leave this place. I never leave negative reviews but this time I have no choice. Last time, in another city, things were not as I expected them and I sent a personal message to the owner to give him the chance to fix things. in my review I was quite friendly and mild. But he never answered my pm and went on renting it the way it was. The reviews are still negative. Not this time. My friendly patience is over.
Why pay through the nose for a vacation space, only to have to do ALL the cleaning and laundry before you get back your deposit? ALWAYS USE A HOTEL/MOTEL. Who wants to CLEAN during a vacation???😳
Load More Replies...Just before the Pandemic I looked into an ABnB for a weekend getaway. The apartment looked nice but it seemed too good to be true. It was comparable to nearby 4 star hotels but didn't have the same guarantee on cancellation policy. We didn't book and looking back we are very lucky because we were able to cancel our hotel reservation in March 2019. I do know someone who has an AB&B but it's run as a bed and breakfast. Homeowner is on site, makes meals but also is zoned properly.
Airbnb for bead and breakfast places sounds like an excellent use of the site. If only it were LIMITED to that sort of thing....
Load More Replies...I expected a story about a drug dealer next door or maybe a prostitution business. Glad the real situation was "safe" even if annoying. We realized many years ago that we lived next to a drug dealer. Nice guy but concerning. What if there was a problem on his side of the wall? Sheetrock wasn't going to stop any bullets. It was like living next to a drive-thru with all the traffic. Not subtle at all. Eventually he got his, caught while dealing too close to a school. Lousy apartments. I was working third shift. Neighbor on the other side would wake up in the morning and have a 120 db stereo show while getting ready. And then he'd depart. He and his missus also had a weekly shout and screaming match. Otherwise chill neighbors. I don't miss apartment life AT ALL. We bought a tiny little house across town after the first year back when those mortgages could be had for something close to the price of rent.
Airbnb is Ok if you stick with the original idea, renting your place or a room when you don't use, not buying flats or houses for this purpose, if you do that you should have to pay hotel taxes and have the same safety rules
I never understand why people would want to stay at AirBnB. You are on a holiday, why would you want to feel at home?
Whenever we visit the states we always hire a house for the stay, we have children so it means were able to put them to bed and stay up rather than us all have to go to bed at the same time if we were in a hotel, it allows us to cook so we dont have to eat out all the time, gives us our own pool rather than share etc, we'd never stay in a hotel now, not with our whole family. If im away with the lads, or my wife is on a girls break thats one thing but for a family? A house or villa works perfectly
Load More Replies...Genuine question yall- I'm honestly trying to understand this . Like can someone kindly explain to me why this is illegal/wrong?? Cause this sounds like their just renting out apartments they shouldnt?? What am I missing here? Please tell me, I'm so confused!!😭
I want to add: the contracts are set up this way for a reason. The apartments, and renters are taxed based on primary residences, so the apartment itself could get into legal trouble. Also, the likelihood of crime goes up when you have lots of people coming and going. If you're expecting to have a family friendly environment, but renters are using AB&B you can't know who you're living around. It also adds traffic to locations which aren't expecting it, and noise. Those things are costly for locals. More traffic, more road maintenance, more police needed, etc. It's just a domino effect.
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