Karenish Airbnb Owner Forced to Sell After Making a Snide Comment as the New Neighbors Move in, Not Realize She's Made Herself the Nemesis of a Woman Far Pettier Than Her

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Nov 3, 2024 9:00 PM EST

First impressions are really important when you're moving into a new neighborhood. Since you're living near all of these people for the foreseeable future, you certainly wouldn't want to go around making enemies, right? But that's exactly what this Karen did in our next story, turning herself into the new nemesis for a new neighbor moving in next door. 

It's not ideal to live next door to a short-term rental, but we deal. There are rules on all of those home-sharing apps that help protect locals, but at the end of the day, knowing that the person who owns the house next door to yours is making a fortune off of vacationers, weekenders, and loud parties at the expense of the neighborhood doesn't sit right with people–as it should! 

The woman in our next story had just moved in with her boyfriend into a new house before realizing the place next door was an Airbnb. Immediately disgruntled, she decided to give them the benefit of the doubt… Until she met the woman who owned the place. Keep scrolling to read how one woman's patience over the course of the year deemed this host unfit to stay in town, effectively running one more short-term rental into the ground. 

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  • 01
    How I got an Airbnb out of my neighborhood by playing the long game Alright so buckle up because this is gonna be a long post.
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 02
    Background: A few years ago my partner and I moved to a new city together, so we knew that we'd need to consolidate our things and get rid of extras of stuff we don't need (keep this in mind). When we both finally
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 03
    got to our new place, my moving container with all my stuff had not gotten there yet but it would arrive within the next day or two. No problem, my partner's stuff is here anyway and I had my essentials on-hand like my medication, extra clothes, and toiletries.
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 04
    Our next door neighbors told us that the house to the left of us was an Airbnb. Personally I'm not a fan of them for a lot of ethical reasons, but I'm also the kind of person to mind my own business because I've got
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 05
    more important sh to worry about. Anyway, my moving container had finally arrived the next day so I was too busy moving my stuff into the new space. Now that I've set the stage,
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 06
    this is where we finally meet the nemesis of my story - let's call her C: So my partner and I were consolidating all of our stuff and one of the things we got rid of was the couch because I already had one and it was a
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 07
    bit newer, so we put the extra one out on the curb. Note, BEFORE we did this, we did call our local 311 to ask how to dispose of big furniture and they told us to leave it out on the curb for trash day on the following Thursday. We called on a Friday, we left out the couch on Saturday, you get it.
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 08
    Monday rolls around and we got a knock on the door from the Airbnb owner, C, and my partner was the one who answered the door. I think I was showering at the time so when I got out, I asked them what happened.
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 09
    They told me that C had come to the door, didn't even introduce herself (our neighbors told us her name) or welcome us to the neighborhood or anything, and very condescendingly & rudely asked if "we needed her to call someone to pick up the couch on the curb." It
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 10
    wasn't in front of her Airbnb and it didn't block the sidewalk - we actually placed it closer to our front lawn along our fence so that it wasn't in the way, and we had planned to put the couch closer to the curb the morning of trash day. We
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 11
    were literally in the middle of moving things in and out of the new place, and it was the first and only time she ever tried to talk to us. Also, people putting out unwanted furniture was, and still is, common in our
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 12
    neighborhood. ANYWAY my partner very politely declined and explained the situation and she went on her day visibly annoyed. Now, this is where my pettiness comes in. I was annoyed about this exchange
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 13
    because of the entitlement (she was more concerned about aesthetics and keeping up appearances than actually being helpful) and it signaled to me that if she actually lived in the neighborhood, let alone in the city, she'd know
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 14
    that we can leave out furniture out in the curb (within reason) for trash pick up. I did research later that day and found out that in order to operate an Airbnb in our city, the owner has to be present on the property for half of the year. I was like, alright bet let's make some magic happen.
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 15
    Six months go by and I can count on one hand how many times I've seen her come to the Airbnb. I also found her listing and it turned out she lived a whole state over, so my suspicions were correct. It also just made that
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 16
    interaction with my partner even more annoying because she doesn't even live in the state, so why did it matter if the old couch was out lol. I placed a complaint to the city (it's anonymous) for the Airbnb because of code
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 17
    violation and attached my screenshot of the Airbnb listing alongside with my complaint, with notes explaining that I've only seen her come and go maybe a handful of times in the last six months. Within a week the case was assigned to someone.
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 18
    Another couple of months go by without any updates, which I expected because I imagine the city to enforce anything takes forever. Within that timeframe though I did file a complaint with Airbnb because there was
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 19
    one weekend where her guests were being obnoxiously loud and annoying I'd usually let it go but we've established I'm petty so I lodged a complaint. So another six months go by and still nothing had happened at this point it -
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 20
    had been a little over a year since that interaction with C and I knew for a fact that she didn't live in that property and wasn't present for even a month out of the year. Hoping to add some pressure to the situation, I filed another code violation
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 21
    complaint to the city (this time with updated notes saying that it's been a year and she definitely wasn't on the property for half of the year as she should be), and sure enough it was assigned to the same person again from all those months ago. Now I just had to bide my time.
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 22
    A couple of months go by after I had filed the second complaint and I see that the Airbnb house got put up for sale and it was bought by this lovely couple that we're super cool and tight-knit with. Moral of the story: mind ya business, abolish Airbnbs, and some people (like myself) can hold a grudge for a long time.
    via Expert_Pomegranate72
  • 23
    NotACrowb... • 4h ago • Excellent! It's especially lovely that there's a family living there now. Homes should be for living in, not renting out.
    via NotACrowb
  • 24
    Ecstatic_Attitude_83 · 3h ago • I will follow your example of the long game. Bought a house last December and figured out the house next door is an Airbnb in March when they threw a family reunion and invited themselves into both my front and back yards. Off to figure out if my city has those similar regulations!
    via Ecstatic_Attitude_83
  • 25
    thatanimalssong ⚫ 3h ago Fight like when they pop up in your neighborhood. They absolutely destroy the character and peace and quiet.
    via thatanimalssong

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