The SF Chronicle writes today about renters getting caught subletting on Airbnb and losing their apartments.
Thousands of San Franciscans make extra money by renting out their home or a room to travelers via Airbnb. Considering about two-thirds of city residents are renters, many local hosts don’t own their places.
That has led to unpleasant surprises for some renters who list on Airbnb: notices from landlords threatening eviction.
“When tenants do Airbnb and we catch them, we serve them with eviction notices for violating their lease agreements,” said Dave Wasserman, a San Francisco attorney who represents landlords. “Most rental agreements have outright prohibitions or restrictions on subletting.”
Wasserman said he has filed 10 to 15 such notices for Airbnb use in the past six months. “It’s growing – no question about it,” he said.
Such notices are generally “three-day notices to cure or quit.” They give tenants 72 hours to remedy the situation. READ MORE.
“Can’t”
Attn Campos! The rent ordinance disallows short term subletting! How dare they!! Please, let’s get an ordinance going that negates that. Renters unite, you deserve the right to sublet YOUR place. Sure, it will most likely be to wealthy euro travelers or tech workers…but you know the old adage…if you can beat them join them!
Campos is wrong then. The Rent Ordinance doesn’t ban short-term lets at all. It doesn’t say anything about them except that rent control only applies for tenancies of more than 30 days. That is why SROs routinely kick out their transient tenants after a month – just having them away for one day means a new short-term uncontrolled tenancy starts.
It is up to the lease to ban sublets and assigns, and the standard leases like the PPO one do that, with wording specific to 6.14 as well.
It should be made clear to tenants that only property owners can enter into short-term lets. whether it is through AirBnB or some other intermediary hardly matters.
Yes, only the very oldest leases do not have a strict prohibition against “subletting or assigning”.. Moreover most leases have a limit on how many nights a guest may stay over – typically 12 to 20 nights a year.
So tenants who play this game are courting disaster. Moreover, the rent ordinance disallows such profiteering by tenants
The only legitimate users of AirBnB are homeowners and those with rental property. I have converted two of my units to short-term lets, and I have been happy with AirBnB’s service.
That said, I find it labor-intensive to have the high degree of turnover that such a service implies. I prefer lets of one to six months, which I find either through CraigsList or from employer networks.
Visiting corporate workers, academics and tourists, preferably from overseas, are my best clients. Interesting, polite people and no rent control constraints.