A Philadelphia landlord sued Airbnb for $170,000 after squatters trashed his home, refused to leave and struck him with a baseball bat when he tried to get back in.
Joseph Foresta stated in the lawsuit the short-term rental app is responsible for the damages and lost income caused by a man who paid for a one-night stay on June 13, 2020, before squatting for three months.
The landlord claimed he listed the property believing Airbnb ‘thoroughly vetted’ prospective guests, according to the Pennsylvania Record.
In the lawsuit, filed last month, he alleged he was struck in the head and stomach with a baseball and his life was threatened when he tried to access the property.
Foresta is seeking $170,000 in lost rental income and repair costs, along with interest, attorney’s fees and other costs incurred by the squatting, which is an increasing problem across the US.
Philadelphia landlord Joseph Foresta sued Airbnb for $170,000 after squatters trashed his home (pictured with the boarded up door), refused to leave and struck him with a baseball bat when he tried to get in
He says Airbnb is responsible for the damages and lost income caused by a man who paid for a one-night stay on June 13, 2020
He believes Airbnb is responsible for the safety of the host’s property from any damage caused by guests and for their overstay beyond their paid reservation.
A man named Lawrence H. Jackson made the one-night reservation, according to the lawsuit, and Airbnb collected the payment. The lawsuit does not specify how much the reservation cost.
But a day later, on June 14, the guest refused to leave and stayed there until Foresta was able to obtain a court order for police to remove him on September 9, 2020.
Jackson is said to have changed the locks, rented out the other two apartments in the building to ‘four to six people per apartment’ and pocketed the rent.
The lawsuit alleged he and those he allowed to live in the property did extensive damage to the property including damaging the furniture, leaving five feet of trash on the sidewalk outside and breaking doors and windows.
Foresta also came to back to see his exterior walls defaced, kitchen appliances and bathroom fixtures broken, the banister on the stairs damaged, fire alarms no longer working, damaged walls and floors and a broken patio.
He claimed he was ‘physically attacked’ when he tried to get back into the property.
One of the occupants struck him with a baseball bat in his head and stomach and ‘threatened to kill him’ if he returned to his South Philadelphia property, the lawsuit contended.
A man named Lawrence H. Jackson made the one-night reservation, according to the lawsuit, and Airbnb collected the payment
An Airbnb spokesman said it does not comment on pending litigation but added that Foresta has been banned from hosting on the app since June 2020 because of ‘frequent violations of our community standards and policies’
The landlord claimed his calls to Airbnb while the situation was unfolding were not returned and letters from his legal counsel were unanswered.
‘It was not until August 2020 that defendant Airbnb finally ‘acknowledged’ the communications, but did nothing to remove Jackson from the property or to address the damage done to the property,’ the lawsuit claims.
The damage was so extensive that repairs took until December 2021 to make the home rentable again.
The suit claims the damage to the property was so extensive that it took Foresta until December 2021 to make the repairs needed to make it rentable again.
It started off as a civil suit in a Philadelphia state court and has since been to federal court, a typical move when the amount of damages requested is over $75,000.
An Airbnb spokesman said it does not comment on pending litigation but added that Foresta has been banned from hosting on the app since June 2020 because of ‘frequent violations of our community standards and policies’.