Air BnB Dilemma

random voice · 22-01-2019 11:50pm #1

I have been asked by a friend who isnt tech savvy to ask the people on boards for advice on a dilemma she has found herself in.

She was renting a house with another person who ran out on the rent mid way through the lease, she is the leaseholder.

incredibly foolishly she had an agreement to let rooms on occasion when either was not there on air bnb and split the money earned from this arrangement evenly between them by pay pal.

when he ran out she leased the rooms out on air bnb to claw back some badly needed rent unaware that half of the payment would go into his pay pal account (because of the previously set arrangement).

He is denying the money came into his account.

She has tried to address the situation but is not tech savvy and has had no luck in getting any guidance or assistance from air bnb. She hasnt been able to discuss this with air bnb online.

Has anyone any similar experience, or have any advice on what to do to salvage this mess?

Appreciate any and all suggestions.

Browney7 · 23-01-2019 12:01am

random voice wrote: »

I have been asked by a friend who isnt tech savvy to ask the people on boards for advice on a dilemma she has found herself in.

She was renting a house with another person who ran out on the rent mid way through the lease, she is the leaseholder.

incredibly foolishly she had an agreement to let rooms on occasion when either was not there on air bnb and split the money earned from this arrangement evenly between them by pay pal.

when he ran out she leased the rooms out on air bnb to claw back some badly needed rent unaware that half of the payment would go into his pay pal account (because of the previously set arrangement).

He is denying the money came into his account.

She has tried to address the situation but is not tech savvy and has had no luck in getting any guidance or assistance from air bnb. She hasnt been able to discuss this with air bnb online.

Has anyone any similar experience, or have any advice on what to do to salvage this mess?

Appreciate any and all suggestions.

Has she been declaring the income to revenue?

Plumbthedepths · 23-01-2019 12:05am

Is the landlord aware of her listing his/her property on Airbnb?

Dav010 · 23-01-2019 12:06am

Browney7 wrote: »

Has she been declaring the income to revenue?

Airbnb passes information on income earned by each Host onto Revenue, what has that got to do with the op’s situation?

Op, your friend needs to close her Airbnb account and remove the listing.

Plumbthedepths · 23-01-2019 12:09am

random voice wrote:

incredibly foolishly she had an agreement to let rooms on occasion when either was not there on air bnb and split the money earned from this arrangement evenly between them by pay pal.

Was she in full receipt of the money from Airbnb and then paid the other person through PayPal? If so it's nothing got to do with Airbnb. As another poster said she needs to be on the up and up with Revenue and I as alluded to her Landlord is ok with it I assume.

MrFinance · 23-01-2019 12:11am

I’m lost to the above. Who posted the listing to AirBnb. Firstly, if she can prove that she is living in the property I cannot see why the Trip team in AirBnb would not disclose payments (if she fabricated a story stating she is the LL etc). Secondly, does the LL know she is subletting the property?

Pelvis · 23-01-2019 12:12am

I've never used Airbnb but it seems odd that you can automatically pay out the money to different accounts?

Anyway, if that's true, then the money is gone. Tell her to log onto her Airbnb account and change where the money is sent, and also change the password.

Dakotabigone · 23-01-2019 12:14am

You do know op Revenue are reading this thread also.

fritzelly · 23-01-2019 12:17am

Pelvis wrote: »

I've never used Airbnb but it seems odd that you can automatically pay out the money to different accounts?

Anyway, if that's true, then the money is gone. Tell her to log onto her Airbnb account and change where the money is sent, and also change the password.

You can specify an amount paid to a co-host, e.g. percentage or fixed amount

As for salvaging this mess - nothing OP can do, not AirBnB's problem
I'd be more worried about the LL finding out and turfing you out.

Browney7 · 23-01-2019 12:21am

Dav010 wrote: »

Airbnb passes information on income earned by each Host onto Revenue, what has that got to do with the op’s situation?

Op, your friend needs to close her Airbnb account and remove the listing.

I know that revenue pass the details but based on the op's friend being oblivious for so long as to where half her money was going I'd bet he/she doesnt.

They now may have tax liabilities that they are unaware of and the possibility that she may need to prove where the money is actually going otherwise she'll get an even bigger land

random voice · 23-01-2019 1:14am

Thanks folks for the education.

It seems the best option available is to close the account and remove the listing.

The landlord didnt care, he also didnt care when her roommate did a runner.

this lady has an incurable disease and sadly is very vulnerable.

Its a **** situation.

Dakotabigone · 23-01-2019 1:20am

Closing the account won’t close the revenue.

charlotte.york · 23-01-2019 10:09am

Dakotabigone wrote: »

Closing the account won’t close the revenue.

I think she got that already

the_syco · 23-01-2019 11:23am

random voice wrote: »

when he ran out she leased the rooms out on air bnb to claw back some badly needed rent unaware that half of the payment would go into his pay pal account (because of the previously set arrangement).

He is denying the money came into his account.

When it came down to it, she gave him money because she didn't remove his details. He has no reason to give it back, as I doubt it was something signed off officially.

random voice · 23-01-2019 12:12pm

Dav010 wrote: »

Airbnb passes information on income earned by each Host onto Revenue, what has that got to do with the op’s situation?

Op, your friend needs to close her Airbnb account and remove the listing.

Revenue is not an issue as she does not work due to an incureable illness. She closed the account and tried to restart but her set up seemed identical like air bnb hadnt closed the file for the address. Im no tech expert myself so any directions regarding how to resolve this ill pass onto her.

random voice · 23-01-2019 12:15pm

Dakotabigone wrote: »

Closing the account won’t close the revenue.

She doesnt have an income due to illness so she isnt in trouble.

random voice · 23-01-2019 12:20pm

MrFinance wrote: »

I’m lost to the above. Who posted the listing to AirBnb. Firstly, if she can prove that she is living in the property I cannot see why the Trip team in AirBnb would not disclose payments (if she fabricated a story stating she is the LL etc). Secondly, does the LL know she is subletting the property?

As she qas sharing a house with this person she shared the air bnb payment. Now hes left without paying rent and has been getting payments through paypal for half of further air bnb bookings she has taken to claw back money from his actions.

Fian · 23-01-2019 1:41pm

random voice wrote: »

She doesn't have an income due to illness so she isnt in trouble.

She does have an income. She has rental income due to her leasing rooms on air bnb. This income is legally required to be declared to revenue and a tax return made on it. She should regularise her situation promptly if she hasn't returned this income, it will be better for her than if she is found out following reports from Air bnb to revenue.

Dav010 · 23-01-2019 2:03pm

Fian wrote: »

She does have an income. She has rental income due to her leasing rooms on air bnb. This income is legally required to be declared to revenue and a tax return made on it. She should regularise her situation promptly if she hasn't returned this income, it will be better for her than if she is found out following reports from Air bnb to revenue.

Why the fixation on taxation? That is not what the op wants advice about, and remember the op is not the person with the issue. If you are concerned about the non payment of tax, don’t be, Revenue will get details on income from Airbnb and will be in contact with the Host if there is any tax outstanding. That is one of the good things about Airbnb, income is paid into bank accounts and Revenue are informed.

23-01-2019 6:59pm

Dav010 wrote: »

Why the fixation on taxation? That is not what the op wants advice about, and remember the op is not the person with the issue. If you are concerned about the non payment of tax, don’t be, Revenue will get details on income from Airbnb and will be in contact with the Host if there is any tax outstanding. That is one of the good things about Airbnb, income is paid into bank accounts and Revenue are informed.

+1 the op never mentioned revenue yet it’s all some posters want to talk about for some reason.

Samuel T. Cogley · 23-01-2019 8:01pm

On the Revenue related matters (I know I know but the door has been opened), she wants to be very careful this income could cause issues with any benefits she may be receiving.

Porridge77 · 23-01-2019 8:18pm

Would the best option not to open a dispute with PayPal. Assuming you have his PayPal address, along with the relevant payment dates and amounts. It would then be up to him to prove he didn't received the funds in error and he is entitled to the funds.

Dav010 · 24-01-2019 10:05am

Porridge77 wrote: »

Would the best option not to open a dispute with PayPal. Assuming you have his PayPal address, along with the relevant payment dates and amounts. It would then be up to him to prove he didn't received the funds in error and he is entitled to the funds.

Would the burden to prove wrong doing not fall on the ops friend?

Op, you can edit your profile in Airbnb to change payment arrangements. If your friend can log in she can edit the account and change the password afterwards. If she forgot the password she can have them send her a new one to her email. If she cannot access the account, just inform Airbnb that no guests will be accepted at the address as the Host has moved out, they will then remove the listing.

The money paid to the former housemate is gone, write it off.

Graham · 24-01-2019 10:43am

I'm not sure PayPal would entertain any complaint about a payment from a 3rd party to another 3rd party.

It sounds like AirBnB and Paypal have both done exactly what was asked of them when the arrangement was originally put in place.

Dav010 wrote: »

The money paid to the former housemate is gone, write it off.

+1

That sounds like a reasonable assumption.

Grumpypants · 24-01-2019 10:59am

Review the payment method on the air bnb listing. See if it is still split 50/50. If so then Update the payment method to just her paypal.

Open a dispute with paypal about the other half. It is unlikely she will get it back but as it was a transaction and not a gift to friends, paypal can recover it.

Most likely needs to prob draw a line and move on with a harsh lesson learnt.

Graham · 24-01-2019 11:05am

Grumpypants wrote: »

Open a dispute with paypal about the other half. It is unlikely she will get it back but as it was a transaction and not a gift to friends, paypal can recover it.

How can you open a dispute about a payment made by somebody else to someone else?

beauf · 24-01-2019 1:22pm

This sounds more of a cause of Fraud or theft and something for the Garda.

Mrs OBumble · 24-01-2019 1:28pm

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

On the Revenue related matters (I know I know but the door has been opened), she wants to be very careful this income could cause issues with any benefits she may be receiving.

This.

If she on disability or invalids benefit, then the DSP concerns are far more worrying than the tax ones.

Change the payment split on the account.

Get advice from citizens information re potential benefit issues associated with the B&B self employment.

Graham · 24-01-2019 1:30pm

beauf wrote: »

This sounds more of a cause of Fraud or theft and something for the Garda.

Not sure I can see any fraud/theft.

Two people agreed to split the AirBnB income. One person forgot to cancel that arrangement when the other moved out.

beauf · 24-01-2019 2:34pm

Graham wrote: »

Not sure I can see any fraud/theft.

Two people agreed to split the AirBnB income. One person forgot to cancel that arrangement when the other moved out.

Its implied that the arrangement was null and void once they stopped living there.

Its the same as being overpaid salary or such no.

Graham · 24-01-2019 3:57pm

You could certainly try and make that argument.

I can't imagine for a minute it's a debate that Paypal or AirBnB are going to get involved in. At the end of the day it's a private agreement between the two previous housemates. Unless they can come sort of agreement between themselves I can't see any resolution other than via legal proceedings, the cost/effort involved are unlikely to make that worthwhile.

Air BnB Dilemma

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