We’ve heard of Airbnb horror stories before — from nightmare renters who refuse to leave, to guests who find hidden cameras watching them — but this might be one of the worst, and saddest: renters staying at a house near Paris discovered the decomposing body of a woman in the home’s garden. [More]
Airbnb
Homeowner Claims Neighbor Used A False Identity To Rent Apartment On Airbnb, Then Refused To Move Out
By 2.12.16
We’re no strangers to Airbnb rental horror stories, but we’re still surprised at how intricate and complicated some of these rental disputes can be. Case in point: the landlord of a San Francisco apartment says the neighbor she’s been feuding with rented her unit by using a fake name, lived there with his mom and a friend, and then refused to move out after the original Airbnb stay was over. [More]
No, It’s Probably Not A Great Idea To Rent Your Dorm Room On Airbnb
By 2.3.16
If you were traveling to Boston, an Airbnb listing for a private, one-bedroom unit with a great view of Boston Common might sound pretty attractive. For one college student, however, his success in renting his downtown dorm room was not applauded by his school’s administrators. [More]
Chicago Proposes Extra Tax, Looser Regulations For Short-Term Rentals And B&Bs
By 1.14.16
Direct lodging companies like Airbnb or HomeAway compete with hotels for tourist dollars (even if hotel rooms are sometimes listed on the sites) yet at first didn’t impose lodging taxes on guests. Now some cities require it, and the listing sites collect and remit those taxes to cities. In Chicago, though, mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed an additional tax on top of that for online short-term rentals, vacation rentals, and traditional bed and breakfasts. [More]
Airbnb Will Gently Nag Hosts In San Francisco Instead Of Requiring City Registration
By 1.12.16
Airbnb’s hometown of San Francisco voted down a proposition that would have limited the number of days per year that a host on the service can rent out a room or property, with the goal of keeping scarce housing stock as housing, not places for tourists. Yet the company is preparing for similar future battles in San Francisco and in other cities, and will start by nagging hosts in San Francisco. [More]
Airbnb Wants To Get Into Bed With U.S. Landlords
By 12.17.15
Though there are surely tenants out there renting their apartments out on Airbnb without their landlord’s blessing, the short-term rental site wants to get on the good side of apartment owners around the country. To that end, it’s reaching out to a few large companies with a lot of properties to see if all sides can work out something beneficial to all involved. [More]
Woman Sues Airbnb, Homeowners After Finding Hidden Camera In Residence
By 12.16.15
When staying at a hotel you have a reasonable expectation that what you do in your room remains your private business, and that it won’t be captured by a hidden camera. The same should be true for an Airbnb rental, right? But one user of the home-sharing service claims she was secretly filmed by the homeowner. [More]
Actual Hotels Are Also Listing Rooms For Rent On AirBNB
By 12.14.15
Most people think of AirBNB as a listing service for individuals who want to rent out a space, ranging from a spare room to an entire vacation homes. It’s an important “sharing economy” site, but people searching the site might notice some alternative offerings from… hotels. [More]
Airbnb Releases Data On NYC Rentals To Combat Idea Of Greedy Landlords, Hoteliers Dominating The Platform
By 12.2.15
In an effort to dispel the idea that Airbnb listings in New York City are filled with greedy landlords and homeowners who are basically hoteliers, the company has released new anonymized data that it says shows most listings are by hosts that only own one unit, and those that have multiple properties aren’t hogging an unfair share of the revenue generated using the platform. [More]
AirBNB Imposes Taxes And Limits Before Local Governments Can Make Them
By 11.11.15
If home-rental service AirBNB regulates itself, will municipalities stop trying to reach in and regulate it? After voters defeated a proposed law that would have severely limited short-term rentals in the company’s hometown of San Francisco, AirBNB has realized that maybe they should be better citizens of the cities where they do business… and regulate their hosts before local governments do. [More]
Report: Airbnb Gearing Up To Offer Prepaid “Experience” Credit Card For International Travelers
By 11.11.15
Traveling to a foreign country can be expensive: flights, lodging, and fees associated with currency exchanges. Airbnb is reportedly attempting to make the experience a little less costly for its customers by piloting a program that offers lodgers a prepaid reward credit card to use on their trip. [More]
San Francisco Votes Down Restrictions On AirBNB Rentals
By 11.4.15
If you don’t live or work in San Francisco and you aren’t an AirBNB host, you probably haven’t heard of Proposition F. The proposition asked the people of San Francisco to decide the future of short-term rentals through AirBNB and similar services, limiting the number of days per year a space could be rented to 75 and creating stricter penalties for hosts who disrupt their neighbors’ lives. The measure failed. [More]
AirBNB Apologizes To Own Employees For Passive-Aggressive Ads
By 10.23.15
If you’ve ever walked up to a government employee and shouted, “You’re welcome for paying your salary!” you wouldn’t see anything wrong with a recent series of ads from lodgings site AirBNB that recently appeared around San Francisco. Even some people who wouldn’t do that had issues with the tone of the ads… including the company’s own employees. [More]
AirBNB Apologizes For Passive-Aggressive Ads Making City Budget Suggestions
By 10.22.15
In the last 24 hours or so, AirBNB has learned a few important lessons about passive-aggressive advertising and about how much people love public schools and libraries. Shortly before voters in San Francisco decide whether to severely restrict residents’ ability to rent out their property on a short-term basis, the company put out an ad campaign to remind the city of how much tax revenue those stays generate. The backlash was swift and angry. [More]
People Don’t Really Want To Live Next To A Vacation Rental Party House
By 10.9.15
It’s not that people in residential neighborhoods don’t like tourists, or that they don’t want their neighbors to make money by occasionally renting out their homes on AirBNB or HomeAway. It’s that they didn’t sign up to live next to a party hotel, and services that let people rent out their homes very easily also make it super-easy to buy an ordinary house and turn it into a party rental. [More]
Sen. Calls For More Precise Data On “On-Demand” Economy & Workforce
By 9.1.15
Independent contractors are nothing new — taxi drivers paying to use a medallion, barbers renting out chairs to cut hair, local artisans selling jewelry and apparel on consignment — but the boom in online platforms that give everyone immediate access to these services and products has resulted in an “on-demand” economy and workforce whose true size and scope is unknown. In an effort to get a more accurate picture on this issue, one U.S. senator is calling on federal officials to provide more relevant data. [More]
Man Comes Home To Find Out Roommate Has Listed His Room On Airbnb
By 8.31.15
If you only live in your condo part-time, you can imagine that the roommate who is there the rest of the time might get up to some hijinks while you’re away. But you probably didn’t think he would list your room on Airbnb without mentioning it. [More]
Tesla, Airbnb Team Up To Create The “Ultimate Road Trip,” Provide Chargers For Rental Hosts’ Homes
By 8.21.15
What do electric cars and rental properties have in common? Not much, unless of course you live in California, drive a Tesla, and rent your abode on Airbnb, as the two companies recently announced a partnership to provide free charging stations to select hosts’ homes along the left coast. [More]
