Tenant slapped with $420,000 lawsuit for allegedly renting out her pad on Airbnb

THE woman who is renting this apartment is in big trouble with her landlord. Almost half a million bucks worth of trouble.

AN ALLEGED Airbnb host in New York City — where renting out one’s apartment can be illegal — is in deep trouble with her landlord.

The owner of Madaline Iacob’s five-floor Midtown walk-up is looking to recoup the $348,510 ($US250,000) in city fines for turning his property into an illegal hotel, plus $69,700 ($US50,000) in legal fees.

He has accused his tenant of repeatedly flouting building rules by renting her apartment to Airbnb travellers.

“We were unaware of the rental scheme,” said Lawrence Silberman, lawyer for the owner of 357 W. 54th St.

“We did not participate or profit from it. But this is now a policy of the city. The tenant does not get named or fined. The landlord’s strictly liable.”

Silberman says his client has been playing a “cat and mouse game” with tenant Madaline Iacob, who allegedly claims the Airbnb guests were actually friends and family.

City inspectors issued violations to the building owner in May after finding Iacob was charging $279 ($US200) a night for a stay in her $2788-a-month ($US2,000), one-bedroom apartment.

When a second inspector caught Iacob in July and issued more $1394-a-day ($US1,000) penalties, she told the landlord the guests were “friends and relatives,” according to Silberman.

But the inspector’s report identifies the people staying in Iacob’s first-floor unit as a family of five from Colorado who had rented the pad from “Ramona” on Airbnb.

Silberman said his client has had trouble catching Iacob because the walk-up building doesn’t have a doorman.

A city administrative-law judge in November found Iacob “was indeed involved in a short-term-rental scheme and as a result the court imposed a substantial penalty based on chronic bad acts,” the suit says.

A city judge slapped the Midtown landlord with a $85,386 ($US61,250) fine. The building owner expects to pay quadruple that for another eight violations related to Iacob’s alleged Airbnb hosting throughout the summer.

Iacob told The Post she is not an Airbnb host and claimed she wasn’t aware of the lawsuit, which asks for $348,510 ($US250,000) to cover the fines plus another $69,700 ($US50,000) in legal fees.

Originally published as Tenant slapped with $420,000 lawsuit for allegedly renting out her pad on Airbnb