Airbnb and a crazed host landed me in a police car once. My crime: having my girlfriend over, and being male.<p>Airbnb offered me a 500 USD voucher, which barely covered the cost of my last minute Holiday Inn stay that I had to make to, well, not spend the night on the street after getting kicked out, and it's all water under the bridge now, but nightmare stories happen both ways.
As a guest, I feel way more safe using Airbnb when I'm renting an extra room in the host's home. Even better if there are strict-sounding house rules. It makes me feel like I'm sharing a living space with a real person rather than helping somebody play landlord with their rental-only flat. And judging by the article, it's better for the hosts as well.<p>I've been living like this with different people for the past month or so. It's been about the same price as a hostel and so much more comfortable and interesting! It would be a shame if lack of trust brought prices up and made this way of life no longer viable.
Slightly similar to the guy who squatted at AOL around the same time (2012).<p><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/26/after-2-months-of-squatting-at-aol-eric-simons-launches-claco-the-github-for-teachers/" rel="nofollow">http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/26/after-2-months-of-squatting...</a>
I am looking forward to the Airbnb movie which is obviously a rom-com of sorts with the pilot paid for by Airbnb rentals and the script written from true life experiences such as this story (with some rom-com elements being pure fantasy rather than grounded in reality).
We've used AirBNB quite a lot now, with our most recent booking being a cottage in the Lake District, UK for our whole family, kids, baby and all. Never had a problem as a guest, but I would be more hesitant to use AirBNB as a host, given the legal climate.
I'm creeped out about the idea of some perv bugging his house with hidden cameras then renting it on airBNB, this alone is why I havn't used airbnb for me or my family.
> It’s no secret that Airbnb’s housing stock is partially composed of listings that are technically forbidden by a landlord, co-op board, or city ordinance<p>This sounds like you tubes early days - ignore the copies of DVDs and music videos until have enough scale not tomworry anymore.<p>But ... That's not a proper strategy is it? And is there a class action means of preventing it? If a landlord sues Airbnb can they be forced to stop renting beds they have not legal right to?<p>Just catching up on the Airbnb story