In Paris, the tenant of a two-bedroom apartment was ordered to pay more than €221,000 (RM1.02 million) after subleting it without permission through the Airbnb platform.
Between 2016 and 2020, the man had sublet the apartment 329 times and collected around €198,000 (RM918,949), which he must now pay back to the owners of the apartment according to the verdict, the newspaper reports on Monday. Le Figaro.
Additionally, there is a total of €11,370 (RM52,770) in rent arrears as the man had not paid his rent in full despite the additional income.
Repairs of €11,500 (RM53,373) were due in the flat, which he must also pay, according to the court.
The owners only noticed in June 2020 that their apartment was being misused as Airbnb accommodation. Data they requested from the platform showed that the apartment had been rented for 1,114 days at an average price of €178 (RM826) per day.
They had themselves charged monthly rent of €1,380 (RM6,404) with no bills.
For the judgment, the judges relied on a clause of the lease according to which the subletting requires the written agreement of the owners. This was not the case.
The tenant and Airbnb also violated French regulations for cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants, according to which rented apartments can be sublet for tourist purposes for a maximum of 120 days per year.
The platform should have blocked the tenant’s account at some point. However, this did not play a role in the decision. – dpa
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