I am trying to rent out an apartment for rental on Airbnb but feel like management/landlord won’t let guests stay over. How are you guys dealing with this issues? I’m pretty sure 99% of apartments won’t allow that. Do you guys ask straightforward before you sign the lease if you can rent it out on Airbnb or do you guys just keep it low key about it? I’m in the Los Angeles area. Thanks guys!
I think most of the people who post here own their properties 
You’re right, most landlords don’t allow tenants to sublet and in many cases would evict a renter for doing so. So be very, very cautious - you could end up being homeless.
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Andy what you are doing is a slippery slope. If you look at your lease, you will see No Subletting is allowed. There is literally zero benefit to your landlord for you doing Air, and every liability. There are myriad cascading consequences too… If someone got hurt and claimed on their homeowners’ insurance, they could be canceled immediately, and if they have a mortgage, forced placed insurance of ginormous amounts could be suddenly be placed on their mortgage. If they can’t make two payments with that insurance, they can be foreclosed on. This is just the beginning of what could face your landlord if something happened. Even us homeowners have not answered the insurance question yet as most companies require a commercial policy for commercial activities, and will cancel you for even ASKING if you can do Air!
There’s no such thing as Air under the radar. 
Air is easy to spot… (luggage rolling in and out, rental cars, people coming and going.) Don’t be so certain that your neighbors, who may be friends with your owner, would not rat on you. Neighbors don’t love Air to begin with, for obvious reasons.
Also be aware that Santa Monica just shut down a bunch of illegal Air rentals. You could get discovered in two heartbeats, and as Jaquo said, evicted in two shakes.
IF you do decide to go ahead and want to take a chance, be straightforward with your landlord and get it in writing. If he says yes, then cool. Carry on. If he says no, forgeddaboutit.
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Check the law. Many states/cities/counties do not allow sub-letting of rentals. As jacquo said, most of us OWN our properties.
As someone who has Air’d properties I rented (this was in 2008/09 when Air first launched in SF) and now ones that I own, I wanted to through in my 2 units of currency.
As a renter I Air’d bc I traveled 20+ days a month for work and it was a great way to make extra income, this was also in the beginning when most people had zero clue what Air BNB was.( including AIR!!) I did eventually get a note from my landlord to either stop or get out. LIving in SF we have very strict rent control laws and you can not simply ‘be evicted’ and the landlord has to go through a long, tedious, expensive, process to have you legally evicted. I made a deal with my then landlord, got a little bit of cash for leaving in sub 15 days, and not causing him the legal headache. I made the conscious decision to thwart my lease’s no ‘subletting’ clause, and deal with any potential repercussions. This is definitely your choice, but like the others have said it could end up with you being evicted. However, I pretty sure LA (all of CA) has to give you a ‘notice to quit’ the evictable behaviour before throwing you your on your bum. Only you know if this is a risk you are willing to take.
As an owner there are still MANY rules we have to deal with in our respective cities, licenses, fines, permits, HOA, nosey neighbors, it isn’t as simple as I own a home, let me AIr BNB it. (atleast not where we are).
If you are dead set on Air BNBing just make sure you CYA and know exactly what you are getting into as the issues can extend outside just with your Landlord as @konacoconutz mentioned LA is cracking down. I would consider your local laws before you even think about hosting.
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Wow thank you so much for sharing your story! That is so interesting, and glad you struck a deal with the guy! Let me ask you, were you always a little nervous when doing Air as a sublet? I would be, YIKES! Not worth it!
@konacoconutz So there’s two answers, at the time I was not that worried. I will of course tell you why. The first and most important reason was that in SF the landlords cannot just evict you, they have to go through a certain process which requires them to give you a ‘3 day’ notice to quit the ‘evictable’ behaviour or forfeit the unit. I figured that the worst case scenario was I would get this notice and just stop Air Bnb-ing, albeit with a really pissed off landlord. Second, is I was traveling about 20 days a month at the time and paying $3k in rent, so I figured if I did get evicted, evicted I would just down grade my apartment to something cheaper.
This was also 2008-2010 when Air was not a known entity, the laws were ‘grey’ and not being enforced. Landlords were pretty unaware as well. I would never do it now as a tenant, mainly bc the city fine is $500/day for LISTING on Air, not even renting, without a permit. Of course you can not get a permit without your landlord’s permission, and you also can not make more $$ than your rent.
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Great answer, thanks for answering. I think that 3-day notice to quit is all of California. I too, did Air when no one heard of it. They say with horror: WHAT? YOU ARE RENTING YOUR HOUSE ON THE INTERNET??? WHAT IF YOU GET A PSYCHO? WHY NOT JUST USE CRAIGSLIST!"
Haha.
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@konacoconutz I think the 3 Day is all of California too, but don’t want to lead anyone astray on here!
OMG, we STILL get that all the time!!! I was just at a dinner party and some uppity biatch was giving me snark about renting out our main residence and what if people have, gasp, sex in a bed etc. My response, was so you have never stayed in a hotel before then? And you definitely didn’t sit on that fabric chair in the hotel, that people did you know what on. HEHEHEHEH. She left gob smacked, and i laughed.
ps- yes, of course we have different linen, pillows, duvets, etc for guests, so its really NBD
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It sounds like many people are lucky to have the privilege to own their homes and basically consider that the only circumstance worth doing Airbnb under. However more and more (and more) people cannot afford to ever buy a house, are long-term renters who happen to travel occasionally, or live in places where the norm is to rent and not to own (Berlin comes to mind). Then the advice ‘just don’t do it’ doesn’t really cut the mustard.
In my city, the landlord-tenant board says that tenants have the right to sublet no matter what is written in their lease, but they have to get their landlord’s consent AND the landlord CANNOT withhold consent without strong proof that illegal occupancy or illegal activity will occur due to subletting.
Airbnb itself is not illegal and the broad range of activity happening on Airbnb is not illegal, so it would be very difficult for a landlord to argue against allowing people to sublet, especially on a short term basis.
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I started renting out my spare bedroom during the weeklong huge motorcycle rally in a local town a few years before I bought this house or had heard of airbnb. I was renting a duplex at the time, and asked my landlord first. He was perfectly OK with it. I also asked the other tenant of the duplex, and she thought I was nuts, but didn’t object. I used craigslist and my personal facebook account to find guests.
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Agree with @konacoconutz on this point (getting permission), but not that most own their properties. There are lots and lots of renters doing Airbnb in Berkeley (including me), with a lease that allows subletting. My advice: get your landlord’s permission or give up the idea. It’s not worth living in constant stress over being found out. I had to speak with about a dozen landlords before one agreed to my Airbnb plan. Some management companies will tell you they don’t care what you do, as long as the rent is paid, the property kept in good condition, and no problems with neighbors. If you want to experiment, ask at places you’re not interested in, just to test the waters with how you propose it. Property managers have advised me to pitch it to owners in terms of a) the benefits of Airbnb over long term rentals (there are many), b) the ways you would prevent it from negatively affecting them (there are many), and c) any incentive you’re willing to offer, such as a small % of your earnings or a larger damage deposit. AND, buy renters and liability insurance, let the prospective landlord know that you’ll do that, and add them to the policy (so they can receive payment for damages to the house vs your stuff).
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… And make nice with the neighbors BEFORE you start hosting. Keep things low key, and enforce the quiet hours and other rules that prevent problems with neighbors, so that by the time the neighbors realize you’re hosting, they’ve already seen that it’s low impact, and that you’re nice and approachable, so they won’t mind.
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Wow, very good advice! thanks Amy! And not sure if I mentioned it before but getting it in writing protects YOU in the event they are looking to throw you out for subletting.
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Thanks for the answer. Would you mind sharing your hometown and would you know of other towns/cities with similar regulations? Thanks!