Tenants fined for Airbnb let
"I get they were creative, but they broke the law and breached the agreement." Property manager Keith Powell
Planning to make a quick buck renting your place to Adele fans this month? Or to visiting rugby crowds this year? Think again.
The Tenancy Tribunal has ruled that subletting a rental property on Airbnb is in breach of the Residential Tenancies Act.
It found in favour of Wellingtonbased property manager Keith Powell, concluding that his two tenants had breached both the Residential Tenancies Act and the Tenancy Agreement for subleasing the property via Airbnb.
But while the couple made $1568 from hosting guests, the tribunal only awarded $1000 to the property owners for ‘‘mental distress’’, and exemplary damages of $300 as a deterrent from doing it in the future.
Powell, who is a director of Nice Place Property Management, said it was not enough.
‘‘If tenants are knowingly putting the accommodation in the hands of groups that have not signed the tenancy agreement, and making a profit, then I don’t think a $300 fine is going to stop anyone,’’ he said.
‘‘At the very least they should be required to pay the revenue back they made from Airbnb.’’
Powell said the owners were ‘‘quite overwrought’’ thinking people had been living in their home that their property manager had not had the opportunity to vet and approve on their behalf.
The tenants were in a fixedterm lease for four months, but had tried to get out of it early.
‘‘[A] fixed-term guarantees the property owners’ income for a fixed period of time, and guarantees the tenants a place to live,’’ Powell said.
‘‘Decisions are made based on those guarantees, so no, we aren’t able to let tenants out of their lease early because they’ve found a home. I get they were creative, but they broke the law and breached the agreement.’’
Property management expert David Faulkner from Realiq said there are serious insurance implications for landlords who weren’t aware their properties were listed on Airbnb.
‘‘If serious damage does occur on the premises, insurance companies may not cover the damage as the property is not being used as a principal place of residence by the tenants,’’ he said.
‘‘The likelihood is that the liability would fall back on the tenant as they intentionally breached their tenancy agreement by subletting without the consent of the landlord.’’