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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
Ok, I just found him on Linkedin and he's only been in the U.S. for a little over a year. That means that he's likely on an H1B visa and any kind of legal trouble can create major problems for him.
Now, there is a recently signed law in California, where you can't threaten someone with reporting them for their legal status, but I'm pretty sure that this is only applicable for undocumented workers.
Just saying..
Originally posted by @Michaela G.:
Now, there is a recently signed law in California, where you can't threaten someone with reporting them for their legal status, but I'm pretty sure that this is only applicable for undocumented workers.
Just saying..
Don't threaten, just do it!
Originally posted by @Account Closed:
Originally posted by @Michaela G.:Now, there is a recently signed law in California, where you can't threaten someone with reporting them for their legal status, but I'm pretty sure that this is only applicable for undocumented workers.
Just saying..
Don't threaten, just do it!
The 'doing it' is not going to get him out, because that might take a long time. But to make him aware of potential future repercussions by....maybe her attorney....could make him rethink this action.
@Cory T. Has the process server been able to serve the squatter in your condo? Given that it appears he knows what he is doing, somewhat, he may be playing a lot of hide and seek and not answering the door. The good news is that the doors and windows are probably closed now, wasting less electricity.
@Cory T. and all the many others who have responded here.
Yes! This thread indeed has become quite a complete how-to guide for squatting in vacation rentals in California. To that I say a heartfelt thank you! I look forward to your blog developing.
Sadly this has all landed in your lap, Cory. But please be proud of what has happened as a result.
Your story is beginning to go viral- or at least globalhttp://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/1364...
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-planning/trave...
See more on Google search: http://tinyurl.com/nkefbvo
And now Fox has the story too:
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2014/07/22/airbnb-nightmare-as-renter-turns-squatter-in-palm-springs-condo/
As a new VR owner in northern CA this is hitting home with me - We had "guests" who now I suppose are better called, tenants, stay at our VR for 45 days. They are known VR hoppers- moving from one rental in the neighborhood to another. We were blessed/lucky to have them well screened and actually personally known by our Property Manager.
And because of the link within the Business Insider's article I'm pleased to have discover THIS group.
I never even heard of airbnb before this thread so pardon my ignorance. But I was having lunch in Palm Springs Saturday with a property manager that is active in the area and is familiar with both airbnb and vacation rentals. When I mentioned this thread his immediate response was it's the hosts responsibility to vet the guest, and further, if the rental is less than 30 days you simply call the cops to get them out if they don't leave.
We also got into how some CC and R's prohibit rentals less than 30 days but, as was pointed out, is pretty much irrelevant to the host-guest relationship.
If you're on top of things as a host it seems easier than being a CA landlord. Not sure why his turned into such a drama.
Good Morning America:
Originally posted by @Richard C.:
Good Morning America:
Thanks for the link. The article was surprising accurate and good with details. And it points out that New York hosts would have the same problem, so it's not just a CA thing.
Just noticed it on the front page of Yahoo. Must suck being an executive or in the PR department of Air BNB right now.
It made foxnews.com headlines too!
More and more news outlets are picking up the story.
This posting tells more about the actual squatter- including video of him:
http://www.kesq.com/news/a-squatter-refuses-to-lea...
Note that it is during this high summer season that there are stories on VR scamming (By Claudine Wong- KTVU.com includes video- http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/crime-law/rental-sca...)
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#1 Foreclosures Contributor
- Real Estate Professional
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Ah, he's scamming the crowd funding suckers too.
Ok, so he's here on an H1B visa with one software company, while he's , according to his kickstarter sites, started a company called kilobyte and is supposedly working on that fulltime.
His H1B visa does not allow him to work any other kind of job/business aside from the company that sponsored him.
I would definitely do some screengrabs of those 2 kickstarter campaign details and the interviews he's given, as those incriminate him.
He does sell himself as having a USA customer that is 'vacation rentals web resource' 2010 - present'. Global platform for web application that allows to manage bookings for property owners.
If anyone has concrete proof, he is here on a H1B visa, and he is defrauding someone he will lose the visa and the one that sponsor him will be fine. What is the name of the company that is sponsoring him?
Joe Gore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L0d-hfRdp0
Perhaps getting him out will be as easy as calling Immigration!!!
If you would like to report illegal aliens, please call Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at 1-866-DHS-2ICE (347-2423). They will need to know names, locations (either work place or residence) and any other specific information you can provide. Visit www.ice.gov for more information.
One call to Home Land Security will get him removed all they need is who sponsor him.
Joe Gore
No, reporting him will not speed things up, because he has a right to due process and he'd likely hunker down, because he won't have anything left to lose. Plus it would still leave his brother to deal with.
But informing his company and making them aware of this might make them pull him out of that situation, because they don't want to get mixed up in it
@Aaron Mazzrillo - Well said. Everyone experiences lost, I wont act like I haven't been taken to the cleaners a time or two! We learn, we grow. Don't panic and stay calm is EXCELLENT advice, and something we can all take advice from.
@K. Marie Poe - I bet AirBnB are getting more scammers because most AirBnB hosts are not full time landlords, so they know they can get an easier target than going through a normal route of renting out a unit. A scammer smells the fish, so that would be my bet on why its escalating in this arena. An Airbnb host usually isn't in addition learning the ups and downs of tenant laws for this cities like people on this site doing it for the last 5 years. Sometimes you really do learn from experience for us, and for anyone new getting into the business. Now, if you're a professional scammer (this guy definitely looks like that duck), it doesnt matter if you're new or experienced, we can get caught up in this.
@Cory T. Shame on Airbnb for deleting your messages! I am glad they came back, but its seems terribly unethical and shady business practices. I have used AirBnB Many times, and YOUR STORY WILL HELP OTHERS PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING IN THE FUTURE!! Your frustration is felt, but thank you! I am now going to jump on with my attorneys (I use prepaid legal services, and the VA lawyers are great!) and ask them about what is the time line before someone switches from a short term occupant to a full fledged tenant. And yes, Airbnb SHOULD have individual notices for each state (easy to do, 1 weeks worth of effort on their part), and let owners in each state what the time line is for rentals before it becomes a short stay to a legal tenant stay. I mean, protect your customers AND yourself, Airbnb!!
Its sad your in California. I posted a few videos on the differences between landlord vs tenant friendly states, and I would honestly never INVEST my money in California at all for that reason. You live there, so its harder for you to escape CA's ridiculousness, but there are investors who absolutely keep the laws in mind when deciding to invest. CA and NY don't deserve honest money.
@Michaela G. You're so amazing! I always love reading your post, your perspective is different and relevant. I actually took screen shots of that youtube page for the OP, if they ever need it. Maybe not, but its interesting his 1M plus vacation rental company connection. Very shady. But great detective work :-)
Home Land Security take visa fraud very serious when it is a H1B visa. It looks like no one is willing to post the company information that sponsored him.
Joe Gore
@Account Closed , if you know anything about visas, then you'd know that this is not a big enough deal. There are more pressing matters to deal with as far as Homeland Security is concerned.
You'd also be potentially hurting Cory, if you jump the gun to report him, because she'd still have to deal with his brother and she'd be in the same situation.
@Lisa Phillips - thank you, I"m flattered. But I really can't claim full credit, because a commenter at SFGate figured things out and since I love to dig for facts, I just did a little more digging.
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The question is, what does the contract state? If it's for short term rentals, he probably doesn't have to have the usual eviction process. I would call the local police department and ask them if they can handle such a situation. If not, immediately go get an attorney!
If it were me, I would go over to the unit, and take some muscular friends with me, move his stuff outside, set him outside; and lock the door. Then, let him take me to court to prove he has a right to the property. Or, take some "new renters" (intimidating types) etc. and let them move in for a week.
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