What to Do If Airbnb Is Destroying Your Neighborhood?
When Rome fell to the barbarians, it didn’t happen overnight. The same can be said for areas that are ravaged by short-term rentals like Airbnbs. When you bought your house or signed the lease on your apartment, you probably thought you were buying a sanctuary, a place where you can relax, recharge and live your best life. You become part of a community, and because you are all glued together, everyone usually tries to maintain respect.
Then came the barbarians in the form of Airbnb, Vrbo, and other short-term rental platforms that allow people to rent out their homes or parts of them for short periods of time. On the one hand, this innovation has allowed millions of Americans to earn an income or travel freely, which is a good thing. On the other hand, he has also turned many houses and apartments into unregulated guest houses. Short-term rentals in your area can lead to a long list of misery: noisy parties, congested parking, and property damage . If you haven’t heard a lot of horror stories, it might be because Airbnb spends a lot of money keeping them out of sight .
What is the problem with short term rentals?
The problem is that guests are not part of your neighborhood, and so they may not feel bound by the usual rules of polite coexistence. But short-term rentals also lack the staff and management that traditional hotels offer. The owners are often off site or even largely anonymous. While in most cases short-term rentals go smoothly, there are many examples of Airbnb that are destroying neighborhoods. The problem got so bad that Airbnb and Vrbo had to team up to create an initiative to shut down so-called “party houses” on their platforms to avert a PR disaster . Even the most conscientious landlord can find it hard to control what happens when he hands over the keys to a bunch of randos in town for an orgy.
It’s one thing to have an occasional noisy crew next door to Airbnb, and quite another to have a constant stream of strangers ruining your neighborhood. So what can you do to fight back? Actually a lot.
Talk to your neighbor about your problems
To paraphrase George Costanza, we live here in a society. Neighbors have been feuding over noise, parking, and curbs since the beginning of private property, so your first step should always be to contact and speak with the property owner or Airbnb host. There is every chance that they are unaware of the problems their guests are creating and they are financially interested in avoiding war with their neighbors.
This could be a casual conversation on the street or a phone call if you know the owner. Often, Airbnb hosts will come over to supervise repairs or cleaning, or hand over keys, so you can just take a moment to voice your concerns. If you have no idea who actually owns the property next door, you can try contacting the host through Airbnb if you have an account, or contact Airbnb customer support .
Airbnb also maintainsa Help Neighborhood resource that you can use if all else fails. Sometimes just contacting the host is enough to change the tone of the situation; hosts can take steps to check on their guests more effectively, and just opening up lines of communication can improve everything.
Finally, consider greeting new tenants when you see them and discussing noise and other concerns with them. Most people don’t look for a fight when they stay in a short term rental. Simply reminding them that there are other people in the neighborhood who are paying attention to them is often enough to quell the rage.
Familiarize yourself with the rules of short-term rental
If an Airbnb host doesn’t care about your problems, is downright hostile, or has made a lot of empty promises (or outright lies) about how to make things better, your next step is to do some research. A wave of laws is rising across the country to limit what Airbnb hosts can get away with. Some of these laws limit the number of days a year a landlord can rent out their property, while others prohibit them from renting out their homes for very short periods to prevent the revolving door of obnoxious strangers from poisoning your life. What’s more, many municipalities require Airbnb hosts to be licensed or to register their property. Finding out if your nemesis did it is, in most cases, just a phone call away.
If there are no specific laws to refer to, check with your local planning department or zoning board to see if your area’s zoning affects short-term rentals. If you are a member of a homeowners association (HOA) or your area has Private Agreements, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) that govern noise or use of property, also review them. It is often helpful to spend some money on a land use attorney. They can help you understand laws and regulations to tell you what your rights are.
The main thing is to arm yourself with facts in order to know what is possible and what is not. If you know you can file a long list of formal complaints, for example, you can go back to the host (or Airbnb itself) and try to reason again, but this time you’ll have a bigger stick.
Contact everyone for short term rentals
If you’re armed with real information and your conscientious attempts to find a peaceful solution with the host have not been successful, it’s time to make some phone calls or send some emails.
Of course,file a complaint with Airbnb . But don’t stop there. If you know Airbnb is violating local ordinances, please contact your local zoning or planning department and file a complaint. If your municipality requires licensing or registration and your neighbor hasn’t, toss that coin too.
If the landlord does not violate any of these rules, your next step may be to call the local police and file a noise complaint. Most communities have ” nuisance ” laws in place to prevent anything that “interferes with the use of property”, including noise or other annoying activities. You can also file a complaint against Airbnb with the Better Business Bureau .
Nuclear option for the Airbnb threat
If all else fails, consider filing a lawsuit. You may have a claim that noise and other interference constitutes a “private nuisance,” which you can file in small claims court if you are only seeking damages. Just check the monetary damages limit in your local jurisdiction. If you want to get an injunction preventing your neighbor from renting out their property, things obviously get a little more complicated, but it can be worth it, depending on how unhappy you are.
Most Airbnb hosts are ordinary people who just want to make some money, and most short-term rental disputes can be resolved over the phone. But when they can’t, at least now you know your options.