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Updated over 1 year ago, 08/10/2023
Evicting renter from a vacation rental property
Hello All,
I have a one-bedroom vacation rental condo in Palm Springs that has been listed on AirBnB for about a year now. I have my first stressful problem: a vacation renter with a 44 day reservation who will NOT leave now that the reservation has expired. (Payment was received for first 30 days, but not for the remaining 14 days). This is all new, to me, and I believe I have a professional scammer on my hands.
Unfortunately Airbnb has not provided support, and is only helping me via email responses every 48 hours or so. The information from Airbnb has been confusing, convoluded and contradictory at best. The summary is that somehow Airbnb collected payment for the first 30 days rental, and was unable to collect payment for the remaining 14 days. The renter has been there 14 days without paying. Today is the date that this reservation expires. (Original reservation May 25-July 8th.)
The tenant is refusing to leave, and sent me a text message this morning that borders on blackmail. I believe he is a professional scammer, and I now need to hire an attorney.
Has anyone had to deal with a similiar situation, or have advice to offer? Does anyone have a landlord-tenant attorney recommendation for the Palm Springs area?
Thanks for reading, and thanks for potential suggestions/solutions.
Sincerely,
Cory
@Adam Harper
I had almost forgotten about this thread. Yeah, crazy story. Sounds like the guy has been a scammer on Kickstarter too.
The text message is just a scare to you. Did your Airbnb rental agreement allow for a business to be run? Do you advertise filtered water or did your guest just assume? Proceed with an attorney as a guest who is overstaying as a tenant eviction in CA can take months!
Originally posted by @Jennifer Niez:
The text message is just a scare to you. Did your Airbnb rental agreement allow for a business to be run? Do you advertise filtered water or did your guest just assume? Proceed with an attorney as a guest who is overstaying as a tenant eviction in CA can take months!
Did you realize that this was 4 years ago?
#3 Coronavirus Conversation Contributor
- Los Angeles, CA
I wish a moderator would read this and remove the sticker, now after 4 years, and avoid this thread to be pinned at the top.
This was a great thread, I read the whole thing!
Originally posted by @Kevin Lefeuvre:
I wish a moderator would read this and remove the sticker, now after 4 years, and avoid this thread to be pinned at the top.
disagree! I'm new here and this is a great read
Oh, California! Laws favor squatters. Brings back bad memories of trying to get rid of my cousin out of my deceased fathers house. Get a lawyer quick
Moderator should just lock this thread, so people can just read but not respond.
Seems to be a good case for having electronic locks. You could just change the code and lock him out.
Originally posted by @Anthony Uva:
Seems to be a good case for having electronic locks. You could just change the code and lock him out.
Hm.....are you really suggesting a self.help eviction? While. This particular situation is years old and over with, locking a tenant ( which is what they were after 30 days) leaves you open to all kinds of legal liabilities.
@Cory T. My heart goes out to you having to deal with scum like this. You’re approaching it correctly by getting legal help (and I’m not an attorney).
I always thought about this situation and
1. Never do extended stays beyond 28
2. You “may” have to do some emergency repairs to the unit that could disrupt the illegal tenant (however you’re almost at their mercy bc they could trash your home)- so approach cautiously and with actual legal advice.
Wishing you the best spirits and outcome!
@Cory T. After 30 days in CA your guest is considered to be a long term tenant and has to be dealt with accordingly. Get an attorney involved, stop communication with him (he will use anything you say against you) and start a formal eviction process . Airbnb is not going to help you. We had an issue when the guest was refusing to leave because “his car was stolen”. Airbnb told us they could not help us and suggested to call police. We later realized the couple was doing drugs on our property and they never filed a police report for the stolen car. We also have video surveillance of them using Uber. You have a professional scammer on your hands and if you don’t follow the eviction process exactly , he can potentially stay in the unit for a long time.
Originally posted by @Olena M.:
@Cory T. After 30 days in CA your guest is considered to be a long term tenant and has to be dealt with accordingly. Get an attorney involved, stop communication with him (he will use anything you say against you) and start a formal eviction process . Airbnb is not going to help you. We had an issue when the guest was refusing to leave because “his car was stolen”. Airbnb told us they could not help us and suggested to call police. We later realized the couple was doing drugs on our property and they never filed a police report for the stolen car. We also have video surveillance of them using Uber. You have a professional scammer on your hands and if you don’t follow the eviction process exactly , he can potentially stay in the unit for a long time.
Ahem.....this thread is many years old and long resolved. But reading the whole thread is a really great learning experience.
@Cory T. Hi Cory. About the deleted messages. I believe every time your guest sends you a message, Airbnb will send you an email with that message. Perhaps you can go through your inbox and find all the deleted messages that way. Good luck with this one and keep us posted
I agree. This is one minor topic of many dozens in the short-term rental space. It doesn't really need to be pinned anymore, just gets in the way. And confuses new people a little probably
Originally posted by @Michaela G.
Ahem.....this thread is many years old and long resolved. But reading the whole thread is a really great learning experience.
Originally posted by @Ken Latchers:
I agree. This is one minor topic of many dozens in the short-term rental space. It doesn't really need to be pinned anymore, just gets in the way. And confuses new people a little probably
Originally posted by @Michaela G.
Ahem.....this thread is many years old and long resolved. But reading the whole thread is a really great learning experience.
I think it's a great threat and it's great if it's pinned. My comment was meant for the person who didn't pay attention to the date. Didn't bother reading the thread and just gave her comments. And again after I brought it up.
@Cory T. I am sorry that you are going thru this. I would not reach out to the renter again unless your lawyer tells you to. And next time stay more on top of things so that you don’t find out about the problem 14 days later. It would of been better to start the court process on day 1 of not paying instead of losing two more weeks of income.
Originally posted by @Amy Beth:
@Cory T. I am sorry that you are going thru this. I would not reach out to the renter again unless your lawyer tells you to. And next time stay more on top of things so that you don’t find out about the problem 14 days later. It would of been better to start the court process on day 1 of not paying instead of losing two more weeks of income.
This was 5 years ago and long resolved. People, please read the dates. This post is pinned, because it's a great lesson that we all need to learn.
That is why it is better not to pin. It confuses newer people. They don't read the date.
Originally posted by @Ken Latchers:
That is why it is better not to pin. It confuses newer people. They don't read the date.
And they also don't feel the need to notice that there are 12 pages of answers. So, they respond as if they're the only ones that know what to do.
Interesting little article here
https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/renting/states-best-worst-laws-renters/
This thread was an incredible vicarious learning experience for me (and a bit of an emotional roller coaster). I'm glad it ended without much issue, it certainly could have gone another way.
Throughout this thread it was constantly suggested that airbnb should make landlords aware of the "residency after 30 days" law. Whether that be their responsibility or not, here that very information is provided to us through the OP's experience, top and center in the 'short-term and vacation rental discussion' board. I think that's why it's a sticky and I'd say it's important to keep this thread pinned.
Offer the tenant the the money that you would spend with an attorney plus the anticipated lost rental income, this usually works as the tenant does't want a negative credit impact, basically it's a win win situation as they now have money to relocate and you save your emotional and financial downside
We went down to the sheriff's office and then we had a court date a few days after I filed the complaint and then the judge ordered them out. Took about 2 weeks from start to finish.