Forced Cancellation by Airbnb

That needs further explanation. HOAs can have whatever rules they want, regardless of what the local laws are regarding STRs.

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You know what my next question will be don’t you? What’s an STR? Ha!

So who runs the HOA? Is it democratic?

Guessing. Short Term Rentals,

Sorry, I’ve been in the States too long :slight_smile:

STR = short term rentals.

I don’t know about other HOAs but in ours, there’s an elected board but all homeowners are entitled to vote in the annual meetings. They can also raise any issues for discussion. All owners are automatically members.

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lol…Well sort of. There is an elected board.

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And, each HOA is different. Some are very simplistic and just make sure you maintain your property and don’t leave trash cans out at all hours. Some get into very detailed control: like what colors you can paint the exterior of your house, what type of grass you can grow, whether you’re required to have a lawn maintenance company, etc. The goal is to maintain property values.

In my area, HOAs aren’t needed because we’re in a small municipality that has a code we have to follow. We once power washed the house and had it repainted within 2 days. 5 days later we got a notice that we had to repaint our house or be in violation of code (they obviously came the day between). Yesterday we got a notice of our brush pile that is in violation from the trees we cut down 3 weeks ago and haven’t finished cleaning up due to hot weather and rain. So yeah, we have 6 days to clean it or get a $500 fine. Ugh.

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I admit that I just bought a condo that my daughter and son-in-law also partially own. It was a new conversion, and I insisted on adding no rentals for less than 3 months to the deed. It is a two unit complex; an old two-family side-by-side that was converted so the sellers could cash out. I have no interest in a never ending series of people renting the whole place nightly. We carefully worded that clause so that if the unit is owner-occupied, that they can rent one or two of the three bedrooms on an airbnb-like site.

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I’m always talking about linguistic differences between USA and UK so please forgive me if I’m getting boring but I no idea what this sentence means. Ha ha! (I don’t really need to know…) [quote=“smtucker, post:27, topic:7098”]
It is a two unit complex; an old two-family side-by-side that was converted so the sellers could cash out
[/quote]

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They are also legally binding. HOAS can place liens and even foreclose. They have a lot of power.

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If you sent them to a different address than was in the listing, and didn’t disclose it (as a way of dodging HOA rules?) it sounds like you were in the wrong and the guest is entitled to the refund and cancellation was justified.

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You need to check your cc&rs and your rules for the community. It can be legal in AZ and your city but the HOA can still prevail. Airbnb has this in their check your local codes link. I think you need to be more clear here in your post if you want any useful advice. And, if you believe it’s legal, why oh why are you worried about harassment? Somethings not clicking here with your short answers. Bet you are not legal. HOA’s and condo boards and coop boards make the rules they want for the community or building and it doesn’t matter if the local laws make it legal. This guest stayed two nights and then reported you? She must have been warned by your HOA or neighbors.
When you bought your place you signed up for something!

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The Boston area was built up in the early 1900’s with lots of multi-family buildings. Most of these buildings were built so that each floor was a unit. The grandparents would live on one floor, and their children with children would live in the other floors. Or, the “owners” unit would be the top floor and they would rent out the other units. It was one of the many ways that immigrants or first-generation families built wealth.

In the past 10 years, instead of selling the whole building for $1 million dollars, the owners choose to make each unit a condo, selling each floor for $800,000. In the end, they make far more money; they “cash” out for retirement.

The building we bought is what you might call an attached unit, meaning that instead of a vertical split amongst the units (one onto of the other), it is similar to two homes, side-by-side. with one common wall. Since these two units can never be zoned as two single family homes, these particular sellers chose to make the owners’ unit and the rental unit two condos. And since it is a condo, there has to be a deed that “rules” the owners of the two units, and as much as possible, constrains friction points between two families, who are strangers, but living in very close proximity.

I have no idea if this is any clearer! Happy to explain more as needed.

Three family

Side by Side, second entrance on the non-visible side

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Thank you for taking the time! I’m genuinely interested and inquisitive. :nerd_face:

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And that is why I answered! I too am always asking too many questions! :slight_smile:

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In my part of the country duplexes and quadraplexes (two and four family units) are common. There are some on my street that are quite nice. others look like cheap apartments.

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A BNB avoiding a HOA for their STR. WTF!

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Not always true. We fought our HOA on a CA law that they were infringing on and won. (There’s a silly law in CA that a HOA/COOP can’t flat out say no dogs, and ours said no dogs in the CCRS, they can put restrictions on size/breed)

HOAs do have a lot of power and can make your life miserable, but they aren’t always law abiding. I have no idea about the OPs situation, but from my own experience I know what its like to get harassment from a HOA, and it sucks!

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I want to double heart that. :heart_eyes:

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address after one books is airbnb policy.
are you an airbnb host?

I think what she means is that the guest doesn’t know you are booking a different address until after they’ve booked. If I booked and someone said, “Oh don’t go to the address in the listing, go to this other address,” I would contact ABB and cancel immediately, I wouldn’t steal a couple of days from you first. But I’d be annoyed AF. Last year when I went to NYC I skipped all listings that said anything to indicate they were doing ABB in violation of the law or building rules.

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