Hello All,
I have a family member looking to rent an appartment in British Columbia, Canada and found a place that is being rented by someone through Airbnb. I’m not familiar with Airbnb’s long term rental policies and certainly not sure how the process might work even if they did. Below is the correspondence from the owner laying out how the process will work if my family member agrees to rent the place. I would appreciate some feedback on whethe this is legit or if it’s a scam. The fact that money needs to be put up front before seeing the appartment is more than suspect.
Regards,
Rene
I received your last email and after I discussed with my family we decided to rent the apartment to you.
Airbnb Global (he linked to airbnb’s global/trust site here) is the property management company that will make all the necessary arrangements for you to view the apartment before signing the lease agreement and sending the payment to me as a landlord. I will cover the transaction and delivery fees.
I can proceed with the rental transaction ONLY if you agree with the terms and conditions of Airbnb Global provided below.
It’s a first time for me doing a transaction like this so I will explain you everything below so we can avoid any misunderstanding
I NEED TO BE SURE THAT EVERYTHING IS CLEAR FOR YOU SO PLEASE READ CAREFULLY ALL THE STEPS OF THE TRANSACTION BECAUSE I CAN NOT CHANGE THEIR TERMS AND CONDITIONS. ALSO I WILL PAY FOR THE TRANSACTION AND DELIVERY FEES AND JUST IN CASE YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND I WILL NOT RECEIVE A REFUND FROM AIRBNB!
Airbnb Global are already in custody of the keys and all the necessary documents. The ownership is already confirmed with the building management from Canada and also with a Real Estate Professional Department in London, United Kingdom. They just need my approval and your information so they can proceed with the transaction.
-You need to provide me your contact details: full name, mailing address (street, number, city and postal code), cell phone number, move-in date and duration of lease preferred (e.g. 6 months or 1 year rental contract with option of renewal). The lease agreement will be a standard one from the Canadian government.
- I will inform Airbnb Global that I approve the rental transaction.
- Airbnb Global will send you a notification(via email) with the transaction details, delivery details and payment information
- You need to send the amount of 1300$( first month of rent from contract -925CAD + damage deposit -375CAD refundable in the last month of rent from contract) to the the Airbnb Global ESCROW ACCOUNT, provided to you in the notification.
THE PAYMENT NEEDS TO BE SENT WITHIN 24 BUSINESS HOURS AFTER YOU WILL RECEIVE THE TRANSACTION DETAILS OR ELSE THEY WILL CHARGE ME AN ADDITIONAL FEE. - After the payment is completed you need to send the payment details to Airbnb Global
- Airbnb Global will check the payment confirmation and start the shipping procedure through UPS Air Cargo.
- You will receive the package (keys, apartment documents and lease agreement) in 4 business days. After the keys will be delivered at your address you will have 5 business days (inspection time) to check the apartment. The inspection time will start from the moment you will be at the building.
- If you decide to keep the apartment you just need to sign the lease agreement and Airbnb Global can release the funds to me. If you don`t want to keep the apartment you will receive a full payment refund including any payment fee.
Please note that Airbnb Global can NOT release the funds without your approval. You will have full control of the payment. They can release the payment to me as a landlord just after they will receive the lease agreement with your signature.
Using Airbnb Global involves three parties: me as owner, you as a potential tenant and Airbnb Global as a responsible third party authorized to handle this transaction. Airbnb Global works the same way as the escrow account on which you place the deposit when you rent an apartment, except that instead of a bank, we use Airbnb Global.
I can NOT rent the apartment any other way because the building management has strict rules about renting private properties and they strongly recommend me to use a professional property management company.
