‘A strange person opened the door’: How a Vancouver condo owner discovered his long-term tenant listed the unit on Airbnb

Imagine renting out your condo only to discover your tenant isn’t there anymore, and it’s become a popular Airbnb.

When Hossein Tavakoli rented his furnished downtown Vancouver condo to a man named Morgan back in April, he did his due diligence before signing the one-year lease. He spoke to the tenant’s previous landlord, asked for pay stubs and did a financial check.

“All seemed to be fine,” said Tavakoli.

But he became concerned in August when emails to the tenant bounced back, and the cell number he gave was disconnected. So Tavakoli decided to pay Morgan a visit at the condo.

“I knocked and a strange person opened the door,” said Tavakoli, who relayed their conversation to CTV News.

“Who are you? ‘Oh, we have rented it.’ From whom? They were hesitant. ‘We were told not to tell.’ I said, ‘No, I’m the owner of this unit, I need to know.’ And they said, ‘It’s Airbnb.’”

Tavakoli learned his condo was listed on Airbnb by a host named Kevin. The listing said the 625-square-foot unit could accommodate up to 10 guests, and had bookings through December.

“I didn’t find the listing myself. I got it from one of the guests,” Tavakoli said.

While some of the photos appeared to be from a different unit in the building, guests who booked through the listing were directed to stay in Tavakoli’s condo. The listing said the address was verified, as was the host.

“You couldn’t possibly connect that person to my unit. How did you verify this?” said Tavakoli.

A guest also provided him with instructions they were given when they booked the unit. They read: “Please remember to keep your entire stay confidential and DO NOT mention to anyone at the building that you are renting short term, nor off Airbnb. Should anyone ask, you are a guest of Morgan’s. No one ever asks, but we ask you so that you know not to mention those details. Please let your guests know.”

Tavakoli’s strata does not allow Airbnb, and he was worried he would be fined or, if something happened while a guest was staying there, his insurance wouldn’t cover it. He tried again to the reach the tenant, but Morgan had stopped communicating.

On Aug. 21, Tavakoli first reached out to Airbnb, and because he wasn’t a host or a guest, was told he is considered a third party.

“I explained to them that, ‘No, I’m not the third party. I own the unit, which has been illegally rented on your platform. You are not taking responsibility to verify the address on the listing. It says that the address is verified. How did you verify that? Because the person that is called the host on your listing is not my tenant,’” said Tavakoli.

Tavakoli said despite providing documentation of the fraud, he was told time and time again that he had to take the issue up with his tenant, whom he could not reach, or the host, whom he did not know.

“I think I sent them more than eight or 10 emails. All the answers were the same boilerplate text,” Tavakoli said. All the while, the listing remained on the Airbnb platform.

Frustrated, Tavakoli reached out to CTV News. We sent a list of questions to Airbnb’s media team, and received an emailed statement on Monday. It read:

“We make clear in our terms of service that all hosts must confirm they have permission to list a space, including having the correct permissions from landlords, and are following local laws and regulations, prior to listing a home. While issues are rare, we investigate these reports and in this case have removed the listing and suspended the host.

While he is relieved the listing is now gone, Tavakoli believes it should not have been able to be posted in the first place.

“How could they call it a verified address in the first place? So either they are not following their own policies, or there are not enough checks and balances there. There is something wrong,” he said.

He suspects three people are working together on the scheme: Kevin the fake host, Morgan the fake tenant, and the man he was told was the prior landlord who gave Morgan a reference. Tavakoli found that man’s name on a BC Hydro bill sent to the condo.

“So, to me, it is safe to say they are working together,” he said. “And I don’t believe three people just do this for one unit.”

He suspects they are operating the same scheme in other condos in Vancouver.

Tavakoli is now tasked with fixing the issues that come along with four months of unauthorized short-term rental.

“Closet door broken, coffee table broken, study desk broken, door hinge broken,” he said.

As he prepares to list the condo for rent again, Tavakoli plans to tell prospective long-term tenants that he will drop by from time to time with the required 24 hours notice. Which would make it very difficult to rent the unit on Airbnb.