Airbnb will let neighbours report bad renters

PLANNING a big party at an Airbnb pad? You might want to think again now that the holiday letting business is encouraging neighbours to dob you in.

Airbnb lets neighbours dob in bad renters

AIRBNB will launch a new feature that lets neighbours report renters who turn pads into party houses, the company announced.

The new website tool will allow people living near loud or wild renters of Airbnb properties around the world to give “feedback” about those troublemakers, according to the firm.

It’s the best way for people renting their abodes to know what’s going on while they’re away, an Airbnb rep told Bloomberg Business.

“One of the most important issues facing the sharing economy is how the people choosing to take part in it coexist with those that aren’t. Our first step in this direction is to give neighbours the opportunity to comment or complain,” said Yasuyuki Tanabe, the head of Airbnb in Japan.

Neighbours can also use the feature to complain about people who rent out pads, he said.

The feature will go live in Toyko in roughly two weeks and start in New York City and other cities in months to come.

Airbnb has not commented on how it will use the feedback to monitor users or if the data will be made public.

The news comes after the start-up came under fire in New York last month for allegedly deleting listings to boost its image and for allowing illegal listings.

Renting one’s apartment out on Airbnb can be illegal in the Big Apple, as Madaline Iacob found out when the city council slapped her with a $348,510 ($US250,000) fine for allegedly using the property as an ‘illegal hotel’.

A slew of Airbnb horror stories have made headlines over the past year, including a NSW woman whose home was turned into a makeshift brothel.

Last month, two Londoners slammed Airbnb after thieves nicked a $16,305 (£8000) original Banksy print and left condoms, laughing gas canisters and cannabis joints at their home.

And a Canadian couple who returned to their home to find the place had been ‘destroyed’ by guests who threw a party that caused more than $50,000 worth of damage.

This article first appeared at New York Post and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as Airbnb will let neighbours report bad renters