CHARLOTTE — A Charlotte homeowner said she did not know her house was listed on Airbnb until a man showed up at her door saying he was her guest.
Natalie Siburt had just moved to a town house near SouthPark.
“I moved in that Saturday, and the next Tuesday is when the guy showed up with a suitcase,” she said.
She said the man told her he was an Airbnb customer and that he had a reservation. “At first, I was really confused. I thought it was a scam,” she said.
She doesn’t rent out her home on Airbnb or any website.
“Thankfully he was nice,” she said.
She told her neighbors and eventually found out the previous owner had a tenant and that person listed the home on Airbnb and never took it down.
“I called Airbnb multiple times. I sent my ownership documents, everything,” Siburt told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke.
Siburt said it took some effort, but that the company finally took her home off its site.
Stoogenke asked Airbnb how this happens, what’s to stop anyone from listing someone else’s property, and if it would consider tweaking any of its rules to prevent situations like this.
The company did not address all of those questions but emailed him and stated that cases like Siburt’s are “rare” and that “(a)ll Hosts on Airbnb must certify that they have permission to list their space.”
It said it removed the listing and took action against the host, but did not say what that action was.
“Not something that I ever expected … I’m trying not to let it put a damper on being a homeowner. But … when the listing was still up, I was having trouble sleeping at night,” Siburt said.
Stoogenke said if this happens to you:
- Go to www.Airbnb.com.
- Find your property.
- Scroll down and click “Report this listing.”
- Double-up with a call or email to the company: 844-234-2500 or support@airbnb.com, automated@airbnb.com or urgent@airbnb.com.
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