A doctor from Stanford reports that a stranger put her house up for RENT on Airbnb, and when she asked for it to be torn down, they brazenly offered her the opportunity to BOOK her own house.
- Shirin Heidari, 46, a palliative care and family medicine physician at Stanford School of Medicine, shared her story on Twitter this week.
- She tagged Airbnb in her tweet, explaining that someone had fraudulently listed her California home as available for rent.
- When she asked a stranger to remove the ad, she was offered to rent her own house.
- Heidari said she became aware of the listing after the city sent letters to previous owners to her address “about the need to report rent taxes.”
- The doctor said late in an update that the listing was permanently removed after she “provided proof of ownership” of her home.
A California doctor discovered that a stranger had listed her house on Airbnb and then suggested she book her own place when she asked to take down the scam post.
Shirin Heidari, a palliative care and family medicine physician at Stanford School of Medicine, shared her story. Twitter this week in an attempt to remove the listing.
“Hey @Airbnb. I would be very grateful if you would contact me. Someone put my house on the lease and when I wrote to them asking them to demolish it, they offered [the] the opportunity to book your own home,” Heidari, 46, tweeted on Monday.
Shirin Heidari, 46, a palliative care and family medicine physician at Stanford School of Medicine, tweeted that a stranger had listed her home on Airbnb.
When she asked a stranger to remove the ad, she was offered to rent her own house (pictured).
“We reported it, but the listing is still active. It’s not normal,” she added.
Heidari explained in a follow-up tweet that she became aware of the listing after the city sent letters to previous owners to her address “about the need to report rent taxes.”
When she called to inquire about the letters, a city clerk shared links to an Airbnb listing with her.
“Grateful they caught him,” she wrote. “Otherwise, we might find out about the people who appeared in our house (!!)”
Heidari said the listing was permanently removed after “providing proof of ownership” of her home.
Hours after her original tweet, she returned to Twitter with an update stating “the listing is down after it was found to be fraudulent.”
“We provided documents confirming the ownership. It is not yet clear what the next steps will be,” she added. “Today there were a lot of messages and calls. Thanks to the customer service representative who stayed on the line at 11:00 pm to help sort it out.”
In another update, Heidari confirmed that the issue was finally resolved.
“I appreciate everyone for their support. After this tweet, another support call and a direct message from @Airbnb, the listing has been removed,” she wrote.
“Want to get to know the phone support rep who stayed with me at 11:00 pm to sort this out and called back to let me know it was deleted.”
Other Twitter users have claimed similar things have happened to them, responding to Heidari’s tweets about her house being listed without her knowledge.
Heidari’s experience has inspired others to share their Airbnb horror stories, and many people have claimed similar things have happened to them.
“It happened to me once, but in a different way,” commented one Twitter user. “I booked a room on Airbnb, paid, showed up, knocked on the door, and the owner had no idea who I was or why I was here. Someone deceived them in the same way that they deceive you.
“What happened to my niece is they booked @Airbnb overseas and the house was scammed. I think we should all check our houses since they don’t! someone else wrote.
“A San Francisco couple lost their home because a tenant listed their house on Airbnb, and there seems to be some kind of law that people can’t be evicted after a month. They rented their newly bought house for several months to end their existing lease and ended up foreclosure,” said another.
reached out to Heidari and Airbnb for comment.
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