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I don't understand how AirBnB is responsible here. You're obviously taking a risk when you hand over the keys to your apartment to a stranger. This is the sam
by marcoperaza 11y ago
I don't understand how AirBnB is responsible here. You're obviously taking a risk when you hand over the keys to your apartment to a stranger. This is the same risk that landlords take when they lease the unit in the first place; hence why these blacklists exist: to minimize risk. The difference is that the landlord is at least leasing what is his to lease. Renting your apartment on AirBnB is prohibited by just about every lease, and is flat-out illegal in NYC. He broke the terms of his lease and the law to make hundreds of dollars a night, trusted a stranger that a website connected him with, and got busted. He could try to sue the guy that threw the orgy, just like landlords can try to sue deadbeat tenants; but just like the landlords, he'll probably get nowhere. The law can't protect you from your own poor decision-making. Would you want to rent your property to this guy?
- vacri 11y agoI don't understand how AirBnB is responsible here. ... trusted a stranger that a website connected him with You answered your own question here. It's a bit mystifying why you're giving AirBNB a complete pass here when they were the ones that set up the connection. It's possible for both parties to be at fault.
- stretchwithme 11y agocomplete pass - $23,000.
- michaelchisari 11y agoThis is an issue, though, if AirBNB is encouraging people to break the law, and simply sees the occasional payout as "insurance" when someone gets caught. It reminds me of the recall formula outlined in Fight Club.
- vacri 11y agowhere did marcoperaza even hint at that?
- marcoperaza 11y agoAirBnB is pretty transparent about how their verification--or rather, the lack thereof--of tenant trustworthiness works. Can you hold Tinder responsible for matching you with someone that then goes on to rob your house?
- vacri 11y agoTinder is a (generally free) 'meet a person' app, not an 'invite a person into your house' service that charges fees, and AirBnB is acting more like a broker than a matchmaker. There isn't an explicit expectation that the person you're joined up with on Tinder must be allowed into your house. edit: clarification
- threatofrain 11y agoAirBNB does take responsibility for the uncertainties brought on by the renting with strangers. By covering property damage. That sounds solidly responsible. AirBNB should not be responsible for controlling a vague group of data trackers, rental and management companies, and landowners, and what secret lists they create. How are you supposed to stop somebody from creating a list? And we don't actually know why this man has been blacklisted. Is it perhaps because nobody wants to get involved with somebody with a history for negative media exposure?
- belorn 11y agoIf its illegal by practically every lease out there, are AirBnB then encouraging people to break the law? There is this site where people put movies and films they have got a license to see but not a license to distribute. That site got busted for assisting in the illegal activity that their users did, primary because they turned a blind eye to the problem.
- marcoperaza 11y agoUsers of the Pirate Bay don't have any cause of action against TPB for making it easier to break the law.
- jahewson 11y agoA lease doesn't get to make the law, so it's not "illegal", it's simply "non-contractual". Breaking the contact means you'll get evicted, but there's no law-breaking occurring.
- marcoperaza 11y agoIn this particular case it is also against the law of NYC, which prohibits short-term rentals like AirBnB.
- jahewson 11y agoYes indeed, and while it's not "practically every lease" it's obviously highly relevant. It's worth noting that subletting a room is legal in NYC providing the actual resident is present in the apartment too, so it's certainly possible to have legal AirBnB in NYC.
- marcoperaza 11y agoIf you search AirBnB for rentals in New York City where you have the whole place to yourself, you'll find thousands of listings for unquestionably illegal rentals. I wonder whether it's legal for AirBnB to do this, and I have mixed feelings about whether it should be. By taking a commission and providing insurance, they're involving themselves intimately in clearly illegal transactions. I'm guessing it would hinge on the exact way NYC law is written and on jurisdictional issues. Either way, this doesn't absolve people violating their leases by subletting on AirBnB. You're responsible for abiding by your contracts the same way that you're responsible for abiding by the law. The fact that someone helped you carry out your malfeasance doesn't change that.
- smrtinsert 11y agoThanks for reminding me to never rent property.