Our next door neighbor has turned his entire property (large house and guest house) into Airbnb rentals. He does not live on site. There have been multiple loud rave-like parties and there doesn’t seem there is anything we can do. We always call him personally and he refuses to take any responsibility. He says it’s Airbnb’s fault because they get the renters. He says to call Airbnb (haha, a lot of good that does) and then he says to call the police, which we do. They have come out so many times and there’s not a lot they can do either because the owner isn’t on site.
The latest rave resulted in a near riot in front of the house when drunken partygoers screamed and fought in the front yard when the police came for the third time that day. The party had started before 1:00 PM and this was at 1:00 AM. The whole day, disgusting foul music was pouring into our back yard. We couldn’t use our yard at all. There was screaming, fighting, and lots of free flowing alcohol. This was the worst that it has gotten but there have been plenty more events like this. He has been getting $1000 per event beyond the rental fee. These people did not tell him that they were having a party so he was mad also but still, he just told us to call the police. In the past, he actually had the nerve to ask me to go and quiet the partiers.
This last weekend, he sent his 70 year old mother over and she was afraid to introduce herself to the police. Then when I called him; he called his mother a coward. We are at the end of our rope and don’t know what to do. He has now posted “no events” on his Airbnb website but that isn’t going to help if the renters lie to him. Besides rave-type parties, we have had to endure a drug intervention with a poor addicted woman screaming and shrieking as she was detoxing. I did find an online form to complain to Airbnb as a neighbor. We’ll see how that goes. Not betting it does a thing.
better yet.. organize with your neighbors against him. Every time his guests cause a nuisance, you and several other neighbors should sue him in small claims court. Small Claims Court is easy and inexpensive, and you don’t need a lawyer. You will need to show the following:
–There is excessive and disturbing noise.
–Your enjoyment of your property is diminished.
–You have asked the person to stop the noise (your letter should be enough to prove this).
To prove your case, you can use police reports, witnesses, recordings, your own testimony and the testimony of neighbors or other witnesses.
The amount you’ll want to ask for will depend on how much the noise bothered you. Did you lose sleep? Were you unable to carry on your usual activities, such as reading, playing music or talking to friends? Decide on a reasonable dollar amount per day, and multiply that figure by the number of days you’ve been seriously bothered. The amount of money you can ask for in Small Claims Court is typically limited to $5,000.
You can sue him today for all that he has put you through. Then help your neighbors do the same paperwork so they can sue him as well. If you can make his airbnb business unprofitable, he will stop using doing airbnb.
Complaints are not going to do any good. You need to take legal action against the owner in a manner that gets his attention and motivates him to remedy the situation.
For instance, every single time that something bad happens, you should sue him in small claims court. Given that he doesn’t live close to the property, it will be more difficult and costly to respond to these lawsuits. If you are suing him several times each month, you are going to get his attention.
Talk with a creative attorney, who can recommend good ways to make his life miserable and reduce the profitability of renting his house out through AirBnb.
Other suggestions:
Make him get a NoiseAware monitor so he knows its happening
Code Enforcement (Complaints to city about his property not meeting codes)
Are you in a neighborhood association, which has guidelines against this?
Complaints to the city about a nuisance neighbor
Zoning violations?
Google is your friend