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The relationship between an Airbnb guest and their host is usually pretty transactional and painless. The guest checks in, enjoys their stay, then tidies the place up and heads home once their vacation's done. Hopefully both parties enjoyed the experience enough to exchange positive reviews, and they go about their merry ways.
That's how it's supposed to be. Occasionally, though, Airbnb rentals become the centerpieces of modern horror stories- and I don't just mean for the guests. One North Carolina Airbnb host is currently living out such a nightmare after her last guests flat-out refused to go home!
Check-out time was weeks ago, yet a pair of troublesome guests still occupy the Airbnb rental owned by Farzana Rahman near Durham, North Carolina. Rahman told @abc7newsbayarea that the troublesome "guests" are claiming squatters' rights and refuse to leave her rental until she gets an eviction order. If Rahman tries to forcibly remove them without the required documentation, the squatters warn her that they will press charges.
"I think they're just trying to gain time to stay there for free," Rahman remarked, noting that the guests haven't paid a dime towards their stay in the Durham condo since beginning their hostile takeover.
Related: Mom’s ‘Unsettling’ Discovery in Kentucky Airbnb Has People Freaking Out
Rahman has owned the condo for years, and when a pair of Airbnb guests booked a long-term reservation through October 2023 through May 2024, Rahman thought nothing of it. During their official reservation period, the guests paid for their rental monthly and did everything by the book. But then, their check-out date of May 24 came and went, and the guests stayed put. Since then, the interlopers have allowed no one inside, posting a sign challenging Rahman to come back with an eviction order.
The Risks of Long-Term Airbnb Rentals
Rahman claims that she depends on her Airbnb property for income as a single mom putting her kid through college, and Airbnb has reportedly been less than helpful, merely advising that Rahman get legal assistance. According to ABC 7 News Bay Area , Airbnb's website warns that hosts who allow stays longer than a month may not be able to remove a guest without going to court. The longer a tenant occupies the property after the lease expires, the more rights they gain, and attorney Maya Davis warns that Airbnb hosts in this predicament should first contact police, then immediately file a "summary ejectment" with the courts if the police do not help. It's a hassle, but it's a necessity in these cases.
This incident is not without precedent. A long-term Airbnb tenant squatted in a luxury Los Angeles guest house for more than a year and a half after her lease ended under very similar circumstances. After 570 days of squatting (during which both the tenant and the landlord sued each other), USA Today reports that the tenant, Elizabeth Hirschorn, very suddenly moved out of the property in November 2023. The landlord, Sascha Jovanovic, immediately changed the locks after her. It wasn't an end to the adversaries' legal battles, but at least the tenant had left the building.
Hopefully, Rahman's legal troubles will not be as torturously prolonged as Jovanovic's. She is already working with North Carolina courts to finally acquire the proper eviction paperwork. Even if she's able to boot the guests out by next week, though, I have a feeling this is the last time Rahman will want to host long-term guests for a while!
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