My neighbors reported me for being an Airbnb Superhost
I live in Atlanta, Georgia and I’m an Airbnb Superhost. I started hosting earlier this year after having an amazing experience using Airbnb in Seoul, Korea. I returned home to set up my my very own Airbnb and amassed over 75 five-star reviews in just a few months. Everything was going great… until my neighbors reported me to the City for running an illegal Bed and Breakfast
Summer 2015
I purchased a new home in the Summer of 2015 in an historic neighborhood just east of Atlanta. The home was classified as a “Two Family Household” and had a 2 bed/2 bath upstairs and a 1 bed/1 bath apartment attached to the rear of the house with its own private entrance and kitchen. Because the apartment had no access to the main house it was essentially its own “Household”.
I listed the private apartment on Airbnb and had an 82% occupancy rate during the months of August, September, and October and was earning upwards of $2,500 a month — well north of my mortgage for the 1500 sq/ft house I lived in next to the apartment.
The Conflict
In the rear of my home was a small parking pad behind a wooden fence. Just past the parking pad was a shared alley that connected to a small 12-unit apartment complex. The previous owners of the home allowed those 12-unit dwellers to park on their parking pad free-of-charge. But now it was my parking pad and I was the one paying taxes to the City.
After a few weeks of writing and leaving notes on cars left overnight on my private property I called up a local tow company, posted signs, and within 24 hours started having those cars towed off my lot.
I’d be pissed too, but I was writhing my rights, right
Mr. Senior Investigator
One morning in November I received a knock on my front door from a Senior Investigator with the City of Atlanta’s Office of Buildings Department. He said there had been reports that I was running an “illegal bed and breakfast” and that they were required by law to investigate.
I had three options:
- Invite the Senior Investigator into the house to investigate.
- Decline the request outright.
- Ask for a reschedule of the first option.
I opted for option three — reschedule.
I immediately started to look up laws and ordinances about what constituted a “Bed & Breakfast”, a “Boarding House”, a “Two Family Household”, etc.
Here’s what I discovered…
The Law
- The private apartment I was renting out on a daily basis is considered a UNIT.
- A FAMILY can live inside a UNIT.
- A FAMILY can consist of up to EIGHT people related by blood, marriage, or law.
- A FAMILY can also contain, in addition to the original EIGHT people, up to FOUR more unrelated people, for a total of TWELVE people in a single UNIT. (If you have FIVE unrelated people living in your UNIT, you are considered a BOARDING HOUSE).
- However, those FOUR unrelated people can occupy no more than TWO total rooms. AKA the roommate law. (If they occupy THREE to EIGHT rooms, you are considered a BED & BREAKFAST. NINE or more rooms is a hotel).
- The FAMILY (blood, marriage, law) must either own the UNIT or rent the unit on a WEEKLY or MONTHLY basis.
- The FOUR (unrelated) can rent a room on a DAILY, WEEKLY, or MONTHLY basis.
Did you follow all that? Basically it meant that if I wanted to rent out the private apartment I had to charge a WEEKLY rate on Airbnb. Alternatively, if I wanted to rent out my guest room upstairs I could charge a DAILY rate on Airbnb.
The Conclusion
I allowed the Senior Investigator to enter my home (both upstairs and the private apartment) and take photos of every room. I assume they use those photos and compare them to short-term rental sites (Airbnb, Homeaway, Craigslist) to look for violations.
I was nervous for about a week until I finally heard back from the Senior Investigator who told me the case was closed due to the fact that the house itself was zoned as a “Two Family Household” and I could legally rent out the apartment on a Weekly basis. He said that if they received another complaint all I had to do was show him a signed short-term lease, which is exactly what I’ve started requesting from my Airbnb guests.
The short term lease I came up with is posted below for your use and protection. Note that the lease is always for at least one week but if the Airbnb guests chooses to leave before the lease is up… well, that’s their choice.
Short Term Lease Agreement
This Short Term Lease Agreement (“Lease”) is entered by and between __________________ (“Landlord”) and __________________ (“Tenant”) as of the date last set forth on the signature page of this Agreement. Landlord and Tenant may collectively be referred to as the “Parties.” The Parties agree as following:
PREMISES: Landlord hereby leases the premises located at ____________________________________ (the “Premises”) to Tenant. The Premises is furnished and includes, but is not limited to, a Queen Bed, Fold-Out Sleeper, Dresser, Tables, Electronic Entertainment Devices (e.g., TV), Washer & Dryer, Refrigerator, Microwave, Stove, Linens, Towels, Blankets, Artwork, and Lamps.
LEASE TERM: The Lease shall end at 3:00PM ET on the week ending __________________. To terminate tenancy before the end of the Lease, the Landlord must give the Tenant 60 days written notice of Lease non-renewal or the Tenant must give the Landlord 30 days written notice of Lease non-renewal.
LEASE PAYMENTS: Tenant agrees to pay Airbnb Payments, Inc (the “Company”) prior to the end of the Lease Term at an agreed upon amount with Landlord. This money shall be held and disbursed by Company to the Landlord no later than one day before the Tenant ends the Lease Term. In the rare case that Company is not available to accept payment, rent shall be payable directly to Landlord upon taking possession of the premises.
SECURITY DEPOSIT: Before the signing of this Lease, Tenant shall deposit with Company, in trust, a security deposit of $___ as security for the performance by Tenant of the terms under this Lease and for any damages caused by Tenant, Tenant’s family, agents, and visitors to the Premises during the Lease Term.
POSSESSION AND SURRENDER OF PREMISES: Tenant shall by entitled to possession of the Premises upon arrival during the Lease Term. At the expiration of the Lease, Tenant shall peacefully surrender the Premises to the Landlord in good condition, as it was at the commencement of the Lease. Any items belonging to the Tenant left behind on the Premises may be discarded by Landlord.
HOUSE GUIDELINES: Tenant shall abide by all the House Guidelines set forth by Landlord, which include: No smoking inside the Premises, nor anywhere outside on the property lot. No visitors other than the Tenant and his or her family members. No pets or animals inside the Premises unless required by law. No mail or packages delivered to the Premises without prior written consent of the Landlord.
UTILITIES AND INTERNET: Electricity, natural gas, water, sewer, and Internet are furnished as part of this Lease as a courtesy to Tenant. Landlord shall not be held liable if Utilities and Internet services are down due to circumstances outside of Landlords control.
USE OF PREMISES: Tenant shall only use the Premises as a residence.
OCCUPANTS: Tenant agrees that no more than ___ persons may reside on the Premises without prior written consent of the Landlord.
RIGHT OF ACCESS: Landlord retains the right to enter the Premises only in case of Imminent peril.
PARKING: Tenant is granted to use ___ parking space in the rear of the property lot for the purposes of parking a motor vehicle during the term of this Lease. The spaces are clearly marked “Reserved.”
ASSIGNMENT AND SUBLEASE: Tenant shall not assign or sublease any interest in this Lease. Any assignment or sublease shall, at Landlord’s option, terminate this Lease.
SECURITY: Tenant understands that Landlord does not provide any security alarm systems or other security for Tenant or the Premises. Tenant releases Landlord from any expenses, costs, claims, damage, injury, or loss resulting from the lack of any alarm system or security. Tenant agrees to keep all doors locked when not inside the Premises.
INDEMNIFICATION: The Tenant shall keep the Landlord indemnified against all expenses, costs, claims, damage, injury, and loss arising from any breach of any Tenant covenants in this lease, or any act or omission of the Tenant.
WAIVER OF SUBROGATION: Tenant waives their right of subrogation against Landlord for any loss insured by fire, extended coverage, or all risk insurance.
SEVERABILITY: If any part of this Lease shall be held unenforceable for any reason, the remainder of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect. If any court of competent jurisdiction deems any provision of this Lease invalid or unenforceable, and if limiting such provision would make the provision valid, then such provision shall be deemed to be construed as so limited.