CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Natalie Siburt purchased her first home in Charlotte last month and, until recently, she’d been settling in nicely.
But last Tuesday evening, she spotted a man dropping off luggage at her door. When Siburt approached him, he asked about checking in to the Airbnb located inside her condo, as described in a TikTok video.
Siburt, a Greenville, South Carolina, native, says she was perplexed by the stranger’s query. She had no idea her home had been listed on the popular short-term rental site by the previous homeowner’s tenant.
“I told him, ‘Oh, I think you might have the wrong address, this isn’t an Airbnb,’” Siburt said in an interview with The Charlotte Observer. “He showed me the check-in instructions on his phone and it was my address.”
Siburt initially thought it might be a scam, so she turned to her neighborhood Facebook group where she learned others in the community may have had an idea of what was going on.
“I posted in my neighborhood group and immediately all the HOA board members were like, ‘We know exactly what this is,’” Siburt said.
She later learned the stranger’s visit was the result of a scheme that dated back months.
HOA board members sent Siburt documents detailing a dispute between the previous homeowner and her tenant, who illegitimately listed the rented space on Airbnb.
The tenant breached her lease and HOA rules by passing the property off as her own and profiting from Airbnb bookings, according to Lori Terunuma, the previous homeowner. Reviews left on the listing indicated dozens of completed reservations.
Terunuma had leased the property to the tenant for nearly three years before evicting her, she told the Observer.
Prior to signing the lease, Terunuma had a background check processed for the tenant. However, she claimed an analysis failed to detect the tenant’s criminal record.
Terunuma only discovered those details years later, not too long after the tenant had already been notified of eviction. She came across the information by conducting a search on Google.
According to Terunuma, the tenant was hit with several minor lease violations by the HOA over the course of the first two years.
Terunuma later began the process of evicting the tenant earlier this year but was still unaware that the occupant was renting out the space to guests through Airbnb.
At one point after the eviction notice was served, Terunuma entered the apartment to check on the state of the property and found locks on closet doors and a note on the refrigerator that read, “Help yourself to whatever you want!”
Terunuma suspected that the condo may have been subleased by the tenant. She discovered an Airbnb listing that included photographs of various rooms with the description: “Welcome to our charming condominium in the heart of shopping, dining, and entertainment in the Carolinas. Suitable for practically any traveler.”
The home had more than 25 reviews and an average rating of 4.77 out of 5 stars.
Some guests encountered ‘red flags’
Yoana Reyes, of Greenville, South Carolina, stayed at the home with relatives during a trip to Charlotte in March. When they arrived for check-in, the group ran into the host as she exited the home carrying large bags of toiletries and random items, Reyes said in an interview with the Observer.
Reyes said the encounter raised “a red flag” as the woman then made her way over to a car filled with belongings.
Upon entering the home, Reyes and her cousins found clothes scattered around the property and spoiled meat inside the refrigerator. When the group placed a complaint with the host through Airbnb, they were told the items and food were remnants from previous guests.
Reyes explained the group accepted the host’s reasoning and chose not to give it a second thought. Now, Reyes says she never would’ve stayed at the property if she had known the truth.
Airbnb verification policy
According to Airbnb’s policy, background checks are performed on most hosts and guests.
“Keeping our Airbnb family safe is one of our top priorities. If we have at least an accurate first name, last name, and date of birth for a Host or guest, we’ll perform a background check,” Airbnb states on its website.
Backgrounds of guests are to be checked 10 days prior to check-in and hosts are vetted after they create a listing or when a stay at their home is booked, according to the company.
Airbnb has two verification methods for hosts who want to list their space on the site. One of them requires prospective hosts provide a qualifying document (a utility bill, mortgage statement or lease agreement) that is less than two years old.
Another verification method entails opting to receive a security code from the company by mail. Hosts then have 60 days to enter the code online. After that, hosts can be verified “within minutes,” according to the company’s site.
Attempt to remove from Airbnb
Terunuma initially began her efforts to get the listing taken down in April, reaching out to Airbnb more than 10 times, according to documents she showed the Observer.
Siburt, the current homeowner, said she called Airbnb multiple times, providing details and documentation that she now owned the property.
“I said here’s the listing, this needs to be taken down,” Siburt told the Observer. “They then said that they’re just a platform and have nothing to do with it and that I’d have to contact the host directly.”
Siburt claims she was able to get in contact with the host but was told the listing couldn’t be taken down because she no longer had access to the Airbnb account.
“I just don’t understand what’s in it for (Airbnb) to keep it up because that seems like a terrible client experience,” Siburt said. “I don’t know why a company would want that.”
‘Very disturbing’
Siburt and Terunuma claimed their continued attempts to get the listing taken down were met with “canned responses” and few answers. Airbnb, according to documents obtained by the Observer, repeatedly told Siburt and Terunuma to reach out to the previous occupant in order to resolve the issue.
“Thank you for writing back to us,” Airbnb wrote to Terunuma earlier last week. “We find that communicating directly with your tenant is the simplest way to address these types of complaints.”
Terunuma’s tenant had already been evicted for months and the house was under new ownership with Siburt.
“Again, these canned responses are not helpful. As I said previously, I don’t have a tenant anymore,” Terunuma wrote back. “These random people showing up with an Airbnb booking have been very disturbing to the new owner.”
In May, the listing had been removed from the platform for a brief amount of time, Terunuma said. It is unclear when the listing became active again after that.
Airbnb removed the listing from its platform within 24 hours of being contacted by the Observer for comment last week.
“Issues like the experience reported are rare, and following investigation we have removed the listing from the platform,” Airbnb said in a statement to The Observer. “All hosts on Airbnb must certify that they have permission to list their space, and in the event a concern is reported to us we investigate and take appropriate action.”
Siburt explained that she doesn’t want to harm Airbnb by going public with her story — she only wants the company to implement policies that protect homeowners.
“I am in the mortgage business so I’ve worked with a lot of investors who are purchasing homes to be Airbnbs. I don’t want them to have a bad reputation. I don’t want Airbnb to have a downfall,” Siburt said. “I just think that they need to have policies in place to protect homeowners who purchase homes that still have active listings.”
