New Years Eve and Airbnb
Posted : 26/12/2016 | By Amanda Hosking
Airbnb enables landlords to let out their properties for short periods of time. This can be good to use when you are in between long term tenants. However, there are many issues to be aware of when using this service. There is no strict vetting and guests will only be staying for the short term so are less likely to take good care of the property.
There have been many stories of parties being thrown in Airbnb properties. As we come up to New Years Eve here is one such story from last years celebrations.
Christina Mcquillan rented out her 1 bedroom flat in Fulham on Airbnb for New Years Eve. It was rented by a single female who said she would be using to flat to stay in as she was attending a party nearby. However, it was later found out that she was throwing a large party Christina’s home.
Christina and her partner where eating dinner with neighbours nearby when they heard the first dis-turbance of loud music coming from the flat. They emailed the tenant who explained she was get-ting ready to go out and would turn the music down.
Thinking all was well, the couple travelled to Kingston to attend a party. They then received con-cerned calls from neighbours about loud noise and smells of cannabis coming from the flat.
They rushed home to find over 100 people inside their flat. Music was blurring, there were drinks everywhere, flooring had been pulled up and the TV had been ripped off the wall.
They asked the girl who had rented the flat to shut the party down and she refused. The couple re-ceived a lot of abuse from party goers for trying to stop the party. The party only stopped when Christina’s partner managed to turn the power off.
They both found the experience intimidating and frightening. They said the damages would cost them around £3000 to repair.
Airbnb apologised for the incident and offered to pay for the repairs. The spokesman for Airbnb said ‘We have zero tolerance for this kind of behaviour’.
Although many people let out their houses on Airbnb problem-free, make sure you are aware of the risks.