Airbnb: The good, the bad and the ugly
POLICE have busted a sophisticated identity fraud and drug-supply syndicate allegedly operating at an Airbnb house in Sydney’s inner west as complaints rise about the booming online portal.
Inner West
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POLICE have busted a sophisticated identity fraud and drug-supply syndicate allegedly operating at an Airbnb house in Sydney’s inner west as complaints rise about the booming online portal.
A woman, 28, and man, 44, were arrested and charged with fraud and drug-related offences after an Airbnb property manager called police about the pair’s suspicious behaviour at a luxurious Leichhardt home.
HomeHost’s Gabriel Sarajinsky, who tipped off police, said it was “full-on” as up to a dozen officers swooped on the Catherine St property on November 29.
Mr Sarajinsky said in scenes reminiscent of the movie Catch Me If You Can, another man jumped a fence when police arrived, leaving behind a “whole heap” of alleged fake documents. He remains on the loose.
“It got me shaken up,” the property manager said. “When I visited the house I saw a whole heap of fake driver’s licences with the address of the property. That’s when I quickly thought these guys are up to no good.
“I also saw they had drugs ... and collected mail from all over that neighbourhood.”
Police seized alleged fake driver’s licences and equipment used to make the fraudulent material, as well as cash and drugs including heroin, cocaine and ‘ice’.
The woman was granted conditional bail after being charged with possessing equipment to make fake IDs for committing an indictable offence.
The man was slapped with the same charge along with supplying and possessing prohibited drugs and knowingly dealing in the proceeds of crime. He was refused bail and is due to appear at Central Local Court on January 25.
In a nightmare scenario for the Airbnb hosts, they were overseas at the time of the alleged offences.
An Airbnb spokesman said the company was “fully supporting our host and co-operating with law enforcement in their investigation”.
THE TOP 6 COUNTRIES BY GUEST ARRIVALS TO SYDNEY:
The Leichhardt arrests come as latest data shows Airbnb has grown by 34 per cent across Sydney over the past year. There were more than 20,000 listings and 526,000 guest arrivals across Sydney in the year to August 31, 2017, with the typical host earning $4400 a year.
Inner West Council says it “does not have a specific policy” on short-term holiday letting and has no records of specific complaints about Airbnb.
However, the nation’s consumer watchdog says the number of scams on accommodation booking platforms including Airbnb have tripled since 2015.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch received more than 150 reports about scams on accommodation sharing platforms in 2017, with $80,000 reported lost.
Australian travel blogger Asher Fergusson recently conducted a study of more than 1000 negative Airbnb reviews and complaints in 2017.
He found evidence of scams operating on the platform, such as listing a property at different price points and cancelling the lower-priced offer at the last moment if the higher-priced one gets booked, as well as providing deceptive information and photos.
The State Government has been slammed for “dillydallying” over reforming the “near-lawless” world that Airbnb – which has an estimated global worth of $42 billion – operates in.
Opposition Better Regulation spokeswoman Yasmin Catley said the government had “failed to lead” in an “emerging economy desperately in need of regulation”.
NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Hornsby MP Matt Kean hit back, saying the government was trying to “get the balance right on short-term holiday letting”.
CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH ‘DODGY’ GUESTS
IT was only a fortunate turn of events that led Gabriel Sarajinsky to visit the Leichhardt Airbnb property he was managing for clients who were enjoying a holiday of their own at the time.
The previous guests had left an iPad at the luxury Catherine St home and the HomeHost boss tried to contact the woman who made the booking, allegedly using a fake driver’s licence, on the popular online portal to organise a time to get it back.
“She didn’t return my call and I sent a text and didn’t get a reply, so I thought it was a bit strange and went around to the house,” Mr Sarajinsky said.
“When I arrived there (on November 29), a few days into their stay, the front security door was wide open. I knocked on the door and this very shady person answered the door. I knew something was up then.
“I asked for the woman who made the booking and was told she was asleep. He told me he’ll come back in a minute and closed the door in my face.
“I was thinking this isn’t good. He came back and then told me she wasn’t there. It was clear he wasn’t going to let me in so I walked out to the street and called the police.”
Mr Sarajinsky said Glebe police “told me to contact the (NSW Civil and Administrative) Tribunal so I went back to the house and a different guy answered the door”.
“He looked very dodgy – like he’d been partying all night and that he’d been to hell and back,” he said.
“He then handed over the iPad and wanted me to go. But I put my foot in the door .. and I’ve gone into the property to have a look around (and) things were in semi-order.
“There was a printer left on the kitchen table … and I lifted it up and I saw a whole heap of fake driver’s licences with the address of the property.
“I then told them to ‘get the f*** out of here now’.”
They refused and within seconds he sent a text to a colleague, urging her to call police and “tell them they’ve got a knife and I need back-up”.
“The police arrived in three minutes flat. I’ve opened the door (for them) and two people got arrested and one guy jumped over a fence and got away,” he said.
Mr Sarajinsky said there was a “huge amount of drugs” in the house, as well as computer equipment, USB memory sticks and alleged fake driver’s licences.
“It appeared to be a sophisticated operation. They looked like drug addicts, but they knew what they were doing with setting up these IDs,” he said. “This sort of things is making my job a whole lot harder. Since I started this business (in late 2015) we’ve hosted over 5000 people – and out of that there’s been three cases like this one.
“This has changed things even more now because everyone’s a criminal until proven innocent.”
The good
LYNNE Champion has had a remarkable life, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous around the world – and even finished runner-up in the first season of MasterChef USA in 2000.
The 63-year-old has now carved a niche as Australia’s Airbnb host with the most.
According to the online booking platform’s latest data, Ms Champion made just over $250,000 out of listing her Palm Beach property on Airbnb in the year to July 1, ranking her as the nation’s top performer. She lets out her five-bedroom home at a flat rate of $2000 a night plus a $500 cleaning fee.
The former fashion designer and restaurant owner says she runs her Airbnb property as a “serious business”.
“I’m meticulous about everything, including the furnishings and the cleaning of the property so it is top quality,” Ms Champion said.
“I’m just a massive Airbnb fan. It works well for the host, giving me a chance to make a substantial income, and it’s a safe and comfortable experience for the guest.”
| ISSUES |
| No clear definition of ‘short term holiday letting’ |
| Impact of short term holiday letting on available homes supply |
| Impact of Airbnb-style accommodation on the demand of hotel room nights |
| What does short-term rental insurance cover? |
| What powers do body corporates have? |
| Regulation and tax avoidance |
Politicians
A STATE Government inquiry into the short-term letting industry has yet to come up with a framework to control it after running for two years.
Minister for Better Regulation Matt Kean said the government was trying to “get the balance right on short-term holiday letting”.
“We do not want a holiday accommodation market that’s so over-regulated it puts people off coming here, but people are also entitled to the quiet enjoyment of their homes,” Mr Kean said.
“We are carefully considering all of the feedback from the (latest Options Paper) before we will make any final policy decisions.”
Neighbours
FED-UP strata and community groups are demanding the government stops the “delaying tactics” in cracking down on the “divisive” Airbnb industry.
“Short-term letting is growing at an incredible rate, but apartment owners are in limbo about our rights,” Our Strata Community, Our Choice spokesman Stephen Goddard said. “(We) are bracing for another new year party-house season with zero protection.”
Neighbours Not Strangers, which has about 1000 members, says Airbnbs are “fracturing” some communities around Sydney.
“When you mix permanent residents with short-term rentals in apartment buildings, it’s such an explosive, divisive and destructive problem,” the group’s spokeswoman, Trish Burt, said. “Local councils should be enforcing legislation much better.”
Councils
SOME councils in NSW choose to regulate short-term holiday letting via their Local Environmental Plans and determine their own definition of and permissibility for short-term holiday letting.
The Department of Planning says 11 councils have STHL provisions in their LEP: Central Coast, Pittwater, Blue Mountains, Port Stephens, Kiama, Shoalhaven, Palerang, Eurobodalla, Wingercarribee, Bega Valley and Snowy River.
On the Central Coast and at Pittwater, STHL is “exempt development”. The department says it is up to each council to decide if it will include provisions in its LEP.
In Greater Sydney, Airbnb data shows Vaucluse had the highest number of listings (4300) for the 12 months to June 2017. Blue Mountains lessors had the highest-average annual income – $11,300 – hosting guests for 40 nights of the year.
AIRBNB DATA FOR THE 12 MONTHS TO AUGUST 31 2017:
| LOCATION | LISTINGS | AVERAGE INCOME (AUD) | TYPICAL NIGHTS HOSTED | GUEST ARRIVALS |
| Blue Mountains | 700 | $11,300 | 40 | 43,600 |
| Canterbury | 100 | $1,800 | 20 | 2,700 |
| Coogee | 3,200 | $3,400 | 10 | 41,900 |
| Cronulla | 200 | $4,300 | 20 | 4,300 |
| Gosford | 300 | $5,900 | 20 | 9,400 |
| Hornsby | 100 | $3,900 | 20 | 2,100 |
| Lake Macquarie | 100 | $4,300 | 20 | 4,200 |
| Lane Cove | 400 | $3,800 | 20 | 5,600 |
| Manly | 2,200 | $4,200 | 20 | 30,200 |
| Maroubra | 700 | $2,200 | 20 | 9,800 |
| North Shore | 1,400 | $4,100 | 20 | 24,400 |
| Parramatta | 200 | $3,800 | 40 | 3,400 |
| Penrith | 40 | $4,000 | 50 | 1,200 |
| Pittwater | 1,000 | $7,100 | 20 | 23,000 |
| Swansea | 100 | $7,800 | 20 | 4,900 |
| Terrigal | 600 | $7,900 | 20 | 18,000 |
| The Entrance | 200 | $4,700 | 10 | 6,000 |
| Vaucluse | 4,300 | $2,900 | 10 | 58,300 |
| Wakehurst | 400 | $2,600 | 20 | 4,200 |
| Willoughby | 500 | $3,900 | 20 | 7,700 |
| Wyong | 80 | $5,400 | 20 | 3,900 |
Source: Airbnb
HOW AIRBNB STARTED
THE Airbnb success story came out of two American men’s desperation, determination, fear and hustle.
In late 2007, Airbnb founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia had just moved from New York to San Francisco. Without jobs, they were battling to pay their rent and were hunting for some extra coin.
They noticed that all hotel rooms in the city were booked and saw an opportunity.
They bought a few airbeds and launched a site called “Air Bed and Breakfast”. They charged $80 each a night.
The idea quickly paid dividends, before the focus changed in March 2009 from shared spaces to all types of accommodation.
The rest, as they say, is history. Airbnb is now estimated to have a global worth of $42 billion and a significant driver of the NSW tourism economy, supporting nearly 5000 jobs.
■ The typical Airbnb host in NSW earns $4,400 a year.
■ The typical Airbnb listing in Sydney is booked for a month — just 30 days a year.
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