Eviction was not enough to stop a former Charlotte, North Carolina, condo tenant from running an illegal Airbnb.
It took the condo’s new owner, Natalie Siburt, running into a would-be guest dropping off luggage outside her home, to kick off a battle with Airbnb to get the listing removed, the Charlotte Observer reported.
After documenting her run-in on TikTok Siburt turned to the condo board, who told the first-time homeowner about issues between the property’s former owner and her tenant.
The previous owner, Lori Terunuma, evicted the tenant earlier this year after leasing the property to her for three years. Terunuma said the tenant’s background check failed to alert the owner to a criminal record, and that the homeowner’s association had had multiple minor issues with the her over the years. Terunuma said she did not know the tenant was renting the property out on Airbnb until after the eviction.
Terunuma told the outlet that after serving the eviction notice, she went to check on the property and found locks on the closet doors and a note on the fridge inviting guests to help themselves.
Six months ago, Terunuma started contacting Airbnb to remove the listing. Siburt also contacted the company, and said it responded by deflecting responsibility. “‘They then said that they’re just a platform and have nothing to do with it and that I’d have to contact the host directly,’” Siburt told the Observer.
Shielded by Section 230 of the Federal Communications Act and a general ability to avoid oversight, diverting blame is the company’s M.O. when it comes to issues like Siburt’s.
In her Tiktok, Siburt said she had done a “deep dive” on Reddit and discovered that many new homeowners whose properties were listed on Airbnb by former occupants have had experiences like hers.
Siburt says she was able to get in touch with the former tenant, who claimed she couldn’t take the listing down because she no longer had access to her Airbnb account.
After the Observer contacted Airbnb for comment, it reported that the listing was removed.
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— Cailley LaPara