California’s new Just Cause Ordinance is protecting an Airbnb tenant who has refused to move out after more than 500 days past her original agreement. Here’s the whole story.
“Dream Home”
Sascha Jovanovic is a 61-year-old periodontist who lives in Brentwood, California.
He moved to California from Amsterdam in 1990 and, five years later, purchased some property in Brentwood.
In 2010, Jovanovic had his “dream home” built on the property. The Times described the home as “an ethereal dwelling that appears on the hillside at night like a glowing paper lantern.”
Jovanovic decided to rent out the small guesthouse on his property to share the mountainside view with others.
Review Red-Flag
In 2019, he listed the property on Airbnb, which is an online platform that allows property owners to list their homes for rent.
In 2021, someone inquired about renting the guesthouse for a “long-term stay” of six months.
Jovanovic approved the stay despite reading a review from another Airbnb host on the renter’s profile that said, “She had a lot of particular needs that I eventually could not accommodate.”
She Paid Upfront
Elizabeth Hirschhorn moved into the guesthouse after renting it for “187 nights” at “$105 per night.” The total was $20,793, which Hirschhorn paid upfront.
At first, everything was going great. Jovanovic said he drank tea with Hirschhorn on the deck that separates the main house from the Airbnb guesthouse during the early days of her stay.
After five months of living in the guesthouse, Hirschhorn told Jovanovic that her electronic blinds had stopped working, so he went to repair them.
Noticing Property Damage
Upon entering the guesthouse, Jovanovic said he noticed “water damage and signs of mold around the sink” that weren’t there prior to Hirschhorn moving in.
Jovanovic wanted to have more extensive repairs done at the guesthouse after seeing the damage inside, so he offered to pay for a hotel for his tenant.
Jovanovic offered her “$1500 toward a hotel of her choice,” but Hirschhorn was not happy about having to move out while the repairs were being done.
She Refused to Leave
Hirschhorn refused to leave during the repairs because she said she didn’t “feel safe being forced to vacate.” The problems between the landlord and his tenant only got worse.
At the end of Hirschhorn’s six-month stay, she decided she wasn’t ready to leave.
Jovanovic agreed to let her stay “an extra few weeks,” but he eventually had to get an investigator from the city’s housing department involved.
Unable to reach an agreement on their own, Jovanovic and Hirschhorn had to take their case to court.
New Law Meant He Couldn’t Evict Her!
Jovanovic was surprised to learn that his tenant was protected by a new ordinance that was passed by the city.
A judge ruled that under the Just Cause Ordinance, Jovanovic had “no legal reason to evict” his tenant. If he wanted her to move out, Jovanovic would need to pay Hirschhorn a $100,000 “relocation fee.”
Hirschhorn’s attorney is arguing that her client should also be reimbursed the $20,793 that was paid upfront because the guesthouse was never approved for occupancy by the city.
“Illegal Bootleg Unit”
In a quote to the LA Times, Hirschhorn’s attorney said, “The landlord broke the law and tried to make money by renting out an illegal bootleg unit.”
Jovanovic claims the tenant is refusing to let him access the guesthouse, which is preventing him from making necessary repairs.
Airbnb offered no assistance to Jovanovic and suggested that he “contact local law enforcement” to have the tenant removed from his property.
According to Airbnb, when Jovanovic allowed Hirschhorn to stay “a few extra weeks” after her reservation ended, that agreement was made off of their platform.
Airbnb Staying Out of It
Because Jovanovic made the agreement off of Airbnb, they considered the rental extension agreement “a third-party matter” that they were not involved in.
According to a story posted on X, Hirschhorn was “kicked out” of an Airbnb rental in the Oakland area “two months before moving into Sascha Jovanovic’s Brentwood mansion.”
One person on X called the tenant a “low-down, dirty thief.” Another person said the entire situation was “unbelievable” and “jaw-dropping.”
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The post 500 Days of an Airbnb Nightmare – His “Dream Home” Was Taken Rent-Free by Unevictable Woman – Legally HE Needs to Pay HER to Leave! first appeared on The Net Worth Of.
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