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It matters to EVERY AirBnB host and guest when something goes sideways and hits the news and social media.
You do NOT have appropriate insurance and do NOT appear to have your landlord’s written permission to run a Short Term Rental/AirBnB out of the home.
Also, I lived in MA for 14 years - raised the kids there. And I know that you can be evicted before the lease is up for any number of infractions, real or imagined.
If it’s not in writing, it doesn’t exist.
And if you don’t have a co-host agreement and your landlord doesn’t have STR insurance, you’re begging for trouble.
You came here to ask a question. It’s been answered by (I’m assuming ) older and definitely more experienced hosts and yet you keep pushing back when we tell you that you’re skating on thin ice.
Good luck. Oh, and check the legal statutes on renter’s rights in Massachusetts. Because once a lease is up, it’s not eviction. Trust me, you have a lot to learn.
Thanks so much for this info. I also have my listing on Craigslist and often get renters from there - its much less hassle though not as profitable - but money is not a problem as I do Airbnb more for the interesting people I meet. I think I stop doing Airbnb and just relist with Craiglist again since I will be leaving in August anyway.
I don’t think you understand that you have no insurance for short-term renting, regardless of whether the rental takes place through Airbnb, Craigslist, or any other source. Even if you do STR directly with tenants/guests—you have no insurance for STR of any kind.
Nor do you have a lease that documents your right to do STR of any kind.
Thin ice, as another host said a few minutes ago. Very thin ice.
Your property (furnishings, etc.) that could be damaged by a guest.
Liability in case a guest or someone they invite is injured, etc.
The structure that could be damaged by a guest.
The policy for #1 needs to explicitly cover guests that are short-term renters (most policies explicitly exclude this as commercial and not residential use).
The policy for #3 is payable only to the owner/lienholders. Generally, your landlord would have insurance on the structure, but if it’s a residential property, the policy won’t be appropriate for short-term-rentals, and it’s unusual for insurance companies to issue such policies to non-owners.
#2 would normally be included with #3, but possibly with #1. Either way, it would need to explicitly include short-term-rentals.
It doesn’t. I hope you’re here because it matters to you.
That doesn’t stop your problem of illegal sublets without appropriate insurance. Not in writing, doesn’t exist. Liability for landlord, you, and guests
In Massachusetts and California tenants have more rights. But certainly NOT in West Virginia—there landlords have more rights. You are making blanket statements about the US on an international forum—and those statements are only true for parts of the US.
The US is made up of 50 states, as I am sure you are aware, and each of those 50 states have laws that differ to each other. In addition, other entities, such as counties and cities, may impose their own restrictions/ laws. Please be more careful in your statements.
Having lived and rented in both states for many years, I can say that it is FAR easier to rent in MA than CA. When we left Boston for Ventura, our application ran 18 pages - 9 for each of us for employment verification, citizenship verification, visa verification (the kiwi was on an H1B1 visa), pay stubs, banking info, joint banking info… it was insane.
The next place was 10 pages - 5 each. Since I didn’t have a job in San Diego prior to the move, he had to sign a notarized letter saying he’d be responsible for my part of the rent!
Massachusetts is a funny place to rent but landlords can be capricious.
She still is breaking the law if it’s not in writing from her current landlord and he doesn’t have LTR or STR insurance
Tenant rights is just a bunny hole to deflect from the fact that she doesn’t want to register because they don’t have the proper safeguards in place.
Is that all? You should see the Spanish one! I just looked back on ours, and as I’m sure @Malagachica will concur, that other than the actual form, our VFT application ran to forty three pages.
Oh, we did!! We just didn’t have to fill it out because I was a US citizen. Am. But I didn’t have a job then, either, so he had to promise to take my half, too.
It was insane!! Boston had been 1 page with a pay stub…
The crap you have to submit here is unbelievable, law changed about three years ago. You actually have to submit less paperwork to start a religion (Jedi knights etc) than register an STR.
