Post by High Priestess on Jun 10, 2016 3:10:15 GMT
In a case that has been watched closely in Victoria, Australia, a court ruled in favor of a landlord who wanted to evict her tenants who she said broke her rental agreement when they sublet her apartment on Airbnb.
www.smh.com.au/business/innovation/airbnb-landlord-succeeds-in-kicking-out-st-kilda-apartment-tenants-over-homesharing-agreement-20160609-gpfy15.html
A landlord has successfully evicted her tenants from a Melbourne apartment after they rented it out through home-sharing service Airbnb.
In a landmark ruling that will send a shiver through the so-called "sharing economy", the Victoria Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Catherine Swan's tenants had breached their lease by renting out the St Kilda property through Airbnb.
Justice Clyde Croft said tenants Barbara Uecker and Michael Greaves had sub-let the Fitzroy Street apartment because they offered the entire property through Airbnb, not just a single room.
The argument has been focused around whether an Airbnb stay is a sublet or a licence to occupy.
"I am of the opinion that the particular Airbnb agreement in issue in this appeal, for occupation of the whole of the apartment, constitutes a lease," Justice Croft said.
"By entering into the Airbnb agreement, they were sub-letting the apartment."
Justice Croft ordered the tenants be evicted and possession of the two bedroom apartment be returned to Mrs Swan.
Mrs Swan first tried to evict the tenants in January after discovering they were advertising her art deco apartment on Airbnb.
The eviction notice was served on the basis they had sublet the apartment without her permission.
But that was blocked by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which ruled the arrangement between the tenants and their paying Airbnb guests was a "licence to occupy", not a lease.
Mrs Swan took the case to the Supreme Court in an attempt to have VCAT's decision overruled.
Outside court, Mrs Swan said she was "very pleased" with the decision and hoped it would give other landlords certainty over how their properties would be used.
"It gives landlords confidence that the persons they lease the property to are the persons who will be living there," she said.
"We can't just be leasing out our properties and not knowing what's going on in them."
Mrs Swan said she wanted leases to be written differently in the future so that "house sharing" is explicitly barred.
Justice Croft stressed the case was not about the merits of Airbnb, but the particular arrangement the tenants had entered.
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I dont' see why this case would need to "send shivers through the sharing economy". As pointed out, this is not about Airbnb -- it wasn't a case against short term renting or against Airbnb. IT was merely a case about a rental agreement and the arrangement between one landlord and her tenants. These tenants chose to rent out her apartment on Airbnb without her permission, and which, at least on one way of reading it, constituted a lease violation. That was a risk they chose to take. Perhaps they will find another place where they can continue to be hosts, with a different landlord and different rental agreement.
I do consider it unfortunate though when tenants end up evicted over a lease violation. I think it's more compassionate to just issue them a Cure or Quit notice, asking them to cease the violation.
www.smh.com.au/business/innovation/airbnb-landlord-succeeds-in-kicking-out-st-kilda-apartment-tenants-over-homesharing-agreement-20160609-gpfy15.html
A landlord has successfully evicted her tenants from a Melbourne apartment after they rented it out through home-sharing service Airbnb.
In a landmark ruling that will send a shiver through the so-called "sharing economy", the Victoria Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Catherine Swan's tenants had breached their lease by renting out the St Kilda property through Airbnb.
Justice Clyde Croft said tenants Barbara Uecker and Michael Greaves had sub-let the Fitzroy Street apartment because they offered the entire property through Airbnb, not just a single room.
The argument has been focused around whether an Airbnb stay is a sublet or a licence to occupy.
"I am of the opinion that the particular Airbnb agreement in issue in this appeal, for occupation of the whole of the apartment, constitutes a lease," Justice Croft said.
"By entering into the Airbnb agreement, they were sub-letting the apartment."
Justice Croft ordered the tenants be evicted and possession of the two bedroom apartment be returned to Mrs Swan.
Mrs Swan first tried to evict the tenants in January after discovering they were advertising her art deco apartment on Airbnb.
The eviction notice was served on the basis they had sublet the apartment without her permission.
But that was blocked by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which ruled the arrangement between the tenants and their paying Airbnb guests was a "licence to occupy", not a lease.
Mrs Swan took the case to the Supreme Court in an attempt to have VCAT's decision overruled.
Outside court, Mrs Swan said she was "very pleased" with the decision and hoped it would give other landlords certainty over how their properties would be used.
"It gives landlords confidence that the persons they lease the property to are the persons who will be living there," she said.
"We can't just be leasing out our properties and not knowing what's going on in them."
Mrs Swan said she wanted leases to be written differently in the future so that "house sharing" is explicitly barred.
Justice Croft stressed the case was not about the merits of Airbnb, but the particular arrangement the tenants had entered.
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I dont' see why this case would need to "send shivers through the sharing economy". As pointed out, this is not about Airbnb -- it wasn't a case against short term renting or against Airbnb. IT was merely a case about a rental agreement and the arrangement between one landlord and her tenants. These tenants chose to rent out her apartment on Airbnb without her permission, and which, at least on one way of reading it, constituted a lease violation. That was a risk they chose to take. Perhaps they will find another place where they can continue to be hosts, with a different landlord and different rental agreement.
I do consider it unfortunate though when tenants end up evicted over a lease violation. I think it's more compassionate to just issue them a Cure or Quit notice, asking them to cease the violation.