A NSW woman had her home turned into a makeshift brothel after listing her property on accommodation sharing website Airbnb.
The woman, who had regularly rented out her home without incident, was contacted by the alleged prostitute through Airbnb but the transaction was made in cash outside of the website.
Booked for two nights, suspicions were raised about the ‘guest’ within hours of her arrival after a steady stream of men were seen by neighbours entering the home.
The Lismore host told local newspaper The Northern Star she had thought the woman was a legitimate tourist who was using her home while visiting the area.
Airbnb have strict terms and conditions that insist users perform the entire transaction on their platform to help avoid situations such as this.
Despite that, an Airbnb’s Australian General Manager Sam McDonagh told The Daily Telegraph they had been in contact with the host and offered her assistance after the incident.
“This was not an Airbnb reservation. More than 40 million guests have stayed with Airbnb, and problems for guests and hosts are incredibly rare,” he said.
