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MILLCREEK — Millcreek tenants are upset after they say their landlord listed rooms on the property on Airbnb and then left them to pay for it.
“Can you imagine if somebody just walked into your house — somebody you didn’t know —and started using your stuff like it was a hotel?” said R.J. Walker.
It wasn’t the sort of weekend Walker and his roommate expected when they say unwelcome strangers moved into the Millcreek home where Walker has rented a room for the last 9 years.
“At about 10:30 at night, I heard some stomping up and down the stairs,” roommate Erik Zimmer said. “That was the new Airbnb tenants moving in.”
The landlord sent Walker a text in February, asking him what he thought about the landlord listing two empty rooms in the house on Airbnb. Walker replied that he and Zimmer were uncomfortable with it and had concerns about who might stay, how many people, and what they would use while they were there.
According to texts Walker showed KSL TV, the landlord responded that the property would be listed, but that Walker and his roommates could have a say in who would stay and when.
That’s one reason why Walker was surprised to find two men over the weekend not only living in a room in the house, but also using his stuff.
“I can’t live like this, you know,” Walker said. “I can’t wait in line for the shower behind strangers I don’t know who are using my shampoo.”
But according to the Airbnb listing that Walker saved to his phone, the place came with Wifi, an iron, TV, washer, dryer and free parking among other things.
“Toilet paper, paper towels, cups, bathroom amenities,” Zimmer said. “Nothing has been provided.”
The landlord told KSL TV off-camera that she runs another successful Airbnb on another property. She also said she gave her Millcreek tenants notice of the guests.
One of those guests, who only introduced himself as Tae, said he was here on vacation, visiting from Idaho.
“I found out that none of the stuff was included, not even the Wifi,” Tae said.
He said the landlord did provide towels.
When Tae arrived at the property on Friday, he says he assumed the people living there were guests like himself, and that everything was included. That’s why he initially didn’t hesitate to use things like soap, toilet paper and shampoo.
As for Walker, he said, “with this Airbnb thing, it’s finally time to really do something about” his living situation and move.
The landlord argues this is a big complaint about nothing. On Monday, she brought things like soap and toilet paper to the property for the Airbnb guests.
