Airbnb nightmare: Guests refuse to leave her home
An Airbnb host is facing the ultimate nightmare at her listing: Her guests are refusing to leave.
Cory Tschogl,39, listed her San Francisco condominium on the portal that allows travellers looking for cheaper accommodating to rent rooms in locals' homes.
Maksym Pashanin and his brother, who are from Austin, Texas, made a reservation of the flat for 44 days, from May 25 to July 8.
But after his checkout date, they stayed put and showed no signs of packing up.
One would think an easy solution is to call the authorities right?
It's not so simple.
Under Californian law, once someone has rented a property for more than 30 days, they are treated as a tenant on a month-by-month lease.
When she contacted Airbnb, she did not get much assistance - sometimes only receiving an email reply every 48 hours.
Cory also threatened to cut off the electricity at her home in a bid to make her squatters leave.
But Pashanin replied:
"Hi Cory, this is Maksym. I have consulted my attorney. As I said multiple times I am LEGALLY occupying the domicile. My nature of work from home is dependent on electricity, and my income while working averages $1,000 to $7,000 per day, involving over 2000 customers in the US alone. IF THE ELECTRICITY GETS CUT OFF I WILL BE LOSING MONEY EVERY DAY."
"I am pressing charges for blackmail and damages caused by your negligence and misconduct, including $3,800 PID Espresso machine as well as medical bills for my brother’s hospital visit after he got sick here drinking unfiltered tap water (ulcer)."
"Not only what you do is illegal, it is also discriminatory in nature and had (sic) cause me and my brother a lot of stress and suffering."
And this nightmare isn't about to end soon.
Tschogl is embroiled in a legal battle that is likely to cause thousands of dollars and will likely be resolved in about three to six months.
Sources: Washington Post, SFGate, Mail Online
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now