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Post by hypertokyo on Jul 21, 2016 9:28:53 GMT
One year ago, as first time hosts, after a lot of hard work setting up, we had just opened a new whole-apartment listing in central Tokyo, advertised on multiple channels.
Our first guest - an American gentleman staying for a long business trip - came through Craigslist and wanted to stay for two and a half months, and at a good nightly rate too! Naturally we accepted, and prepared a monthly contract; it was to be prepaid monthly and had a deposit. Although he paid cash for the deposit, he wanted to pay by international bank transfer from the US for the rent. That was a problem. They got the account details wrong and the payment didn't arrive until we were a week into his stay. All the while I'm worrying and fussing about it. The second month's payment was similarly delayed, even though I had warned him. One night I got a sudden call from him. He sounded very worried. An older neighbor and an official-looking person had visited and left notes that he was there illegally and they were "evicting" him! As with almost all airbnbs in Japan, we were operating in a gray area pending short term rental legislation - in the absence of which that accusation is debatable. They had no right to evict him. Anyway, the guest seemed freaked, and moved out the next day. In light of the circumstances we let go of the cancellation fees that he was supposed to pay...
to be continued
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Post by High Priestess on Jul 21, 2016 14:51:22 GMT
HOw scary, Tokyo! IT also sounds like your laws in Japan must be quite different from those in the USA on at least a couple scores. One is that in the USA a 2.5 month rental is by no means a short term rental -- it is a long term rental and is completely legal as a way of renting property, regardless of the status of short term rentals. What is considered a short term rental in Japan?
Secondly, it is not legal in the US for anyone to evict someone who's been in a place over a month, without going to court, and the city government is not able to "evict" tenants, except in circumstances where the place they are living turns out to be uninhabitable -- such as, a flood damages the place, or it has no running water.
Others are doing hosting in TOkyo with no problem -- perhaps they have better neighbors? Hope for good neighbors if you do Airbnb in Tokyo?
YEs, please let us know how this story ends!
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Post by hypertokyo on Jul 22, 2016 2:46:43 GMT
Thanks Deborah. Since the guest was quite outgoing, we assumed he’d been talking and telling the neighbors that he was a vacation rental guest. In any case, many Japanese assume that all foreigners here must be tourists! Anyway, so he vacated the apartment and went to stay with his girlfriend (who happened to live in Japan) at her tiny suburban flat. As hosts, we were heartbroken. There was no way we could risk guests being harassed like that! We decided to take the listing offline, and cancel four upcoming reservations we had through Airbnb. While we looked for a new property, we decided to live there for a while. Meeting some of the neighbors and the building management, it turned out no one knew about any “notes” and “eviction” threats. We checked with the guest’s girlfriend, who supposedly had these notes, and she had no idea what we were talking about, either. We finally realized the whole thing was just a ruse by the guest… so that he could cancel his contract early, without penalty. After more than a month of lost earnings, we finally learned our lesson… go through Airbnb’s booking and payment system. Less worrying about billing, they pay on time, and they can’t lie their way out of cancellation penalties.
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Post by High Priestess on Jul 22, 2016 14:21:02 GMT
What a horrible thing for the guest to have done to you -- not only lying and cheating and scamming to get his own money back, but causing you to lose other income from other reservations for a whole month, and to greatly inconvenience other guests. I would complain to Airbnb about him and ask them to contact him about those lies. It's fraud, what he did, and that should not go without being addressed.
Yes, you don't ever want to take what one guest says at face value. Too many hosts learn that the hard way.
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Post by trafalgar on Jul 22, 2016 21:56:34 GMT
You should never have allowed the guest to stay without paying in advance. That was your second mistake (the first mistake was finding a tenant via Craigslist). Third mistake was agreeing for rent to be paid in increments.
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Post by maria on Jul 23, 2016 3:31:53 GMT
You should never have allowed the guest to stay without paying in advance. That was your second mistake (the first mistake was finding a tenant via Craigslist). Third mistake was agreeing for rent to be paid in increments. Some of my best guests come through CL (I run backgrounds and get paid in advance, and security deposit too).
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Post by CC on Jul 24, 2016 14:54:46 GMT
Ha! I did craiglist for years--found my "permanent" roomie that way. And those poor souls don't get any TLC whatsoever, I'm afraid. Now that I've gotten rid of my other house, I don't give any weekly or monthly discounts anymore, and apparently one night is not long enough to learn all my house's idiosyncrasies, so there are many missteps by guests. I wouldn't put up with that from craigslisters. They better get with it quick! I'm currently studying a phenomenon--I have an eye-to-eye talk with my guests & express to them how most guests "don't get this," but that I want them to lock the door upon checkout. Then throw key under mat. Lock door/put key under mat. Lock door/put key under mat.... Every single time, they either leave door unlocked, key on nightstand, lock door & keep key, or leave door unlocked, but put key under mat. Guy just departed. His question: should I lock it? Answer: you're a dumbass.
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Post by High Priestess on Jul 24, 2016 15:05:11 GMT
CC, you're looking them in the eye and telling them to lock the door, and then they don't? How annoying! The only thing I can think to suggest is that instead of saying "most guests don't get this" when you have the talk with them, say, "Now this is really important for the safety and security of my house." It occurs to me that maybe saying "most guests don't get this" makes them think it is complicated??!? I know that's an odd notion but I can't think of any other reason why they can't do something so simple....after being told to do that...
Oh wait! I have one other suggestion. Often, people learn best about how to do something, by actually doing it.Eg a trial run. So if after telling the guest to lock door and put key under mat when they go, maybe you could say, "Okay now we're going to do a trial run...because some have had difficulty with this....pretend you're leaving...here's the key...show me what you do when you leave." Then see if they can lock the door and put key under mat. IF they can, give them a big smile and congratulations.
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Post by CC on Jul 24, 2016 15:25:24 GMT
Hehe, Deborah! Well, I don't like treating them like they are stupid, but I guess I'll have to try that. This dude was a lawyer, traveling through, and was very concerned about security when he arrived, & wanted to chain lock the door. No, no, no. He wanted me to take my fire-security keys out of my door. No, no, no. But the next morning, he thinks it's safe enough to leave the door unlocked?!
The bit with the bathroom doors I've given up on. A lot of guys lately are too lazy to close the door while in the bathroom. That doesn't work for me. Funny how I'll have 100 guests in a row who get something, then 5 in a row who don't!
And it's not even important if they lock the door or not here. Me & roommie leave it unlocked half the time. But as a former teacher, can I still teach someone something? And for the sake of all the other hosts in the world, I want to get them in the habit of locking.
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Post by helgaparis on Jul 24, 2016 18:49:02 GMT
I do a key trial with everyone, from inside (lever, no key) and from outside (key). Some just open the door and look at me like I'm stupid to have them try. Some use the key inside (fine), but that's mostly those that will lock the door from inside twice and store the key upstairs. Others need two trials. Current guest: me: "If you return during the day, the other lock may be locked and you can't open the door. That's for safety, if the parrot is in the kitchen, to avoid someone opens the door and he flies outside. In this case just knock. If I'm not home, he is in my room and you can just enter with your key. " - "ok" At 10:30 pm, blinds closed, apartment dark, window a bit open, I'm watching a film on the laptop, with a soundcancelling headset. After A while, I realise that the pounding noise is not part of the film. "I preferred knocking, in case the parrot flies around." Right, it's an owl.
He is a teacher too. Nothing complicated. Black or white. No options
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Post by helgaparis on Jul 24, 2016 18:54:55 GMT
Hypertokyo, that was a terrible beginning. And a really mean guest. If it was a business trip and you knew the business, I would have been tempted to send a letter complaining over that to the business. Just the business, no particular attention(except knowing his boss' name). That way a secretary will open it and the whole company will be informed. Damage for damage - if I'm really angry, I'm for creative revenge.
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