Seven signs your tenant is subletting
The dangers of unauthorised short-term subletting are well known, with horror stories common in the media and across the internet. Property damage, out-of-control parties, drug dens, brothels and crime are just a few of the problems bad guests can cause.
For tenants the extra cash may be handy, but as the property owner you’re left footing the bill for any problems, and your insurance often won’t cover it.
So how can you tell if your tenant is subletting? Here are some signs to watch for:
- Your tenant is often out of town on work – Airbnb is an easy way for tenants to make money off a property they’re not using while they’re away.
- Your tenant is often on vacation – Many tenants rent out their landlord’s property to pay for their overseas trips. Cheap vacations mean lots of vacations.
- Your tenant is nervous during property inspections – If there are rooms they don’t want you to enter or they want a lot of warning period before inspections, these are both danger signs.
- When you visit, it looks like a bed and breakfast – If you see maps and guides for the local area, or tea and coffee makers in the bedrooms, this is a dead giveaway.
- A single person is looking to rent a large property – They’ll be doing something with all those extra rooms, and subletting is an easy way to make extra cash off them.
- Someone with money is looking to rent a small property in a popular area – They can do better, why aren’t they? They might be looking for a side business subletting your investment property online.
- Complaints from neighbours about lots of people coming and going – It pays to be friendly with your property’s neighbours and other tenants. They don’t want an Airbnb party house on their block, and strangers increase the risk of crime.
- Rent terms that are too good to be true – If a tenant offers to pay lots up front or a very high weekly rent, they may be expecting to make it back by subletting.
None of these signs by themselves is proof, but the more signs you can see, the more likely your tenant is subletting.
To catch unauthorised subletting, you can look online, but searching for your properties every day is exhausting, not to mention pretty hard to do (Airbnb, like most subletting sites, doesn’t show exact addresses or have alerts for new properties). And there are dozens of websites you need to check.
BnBGuard is here to help. Our affordable service monitors short-term rental and share house sites for your properties, whether it’s a single house, a portfolio of properties or an entire building. When we find a match, you’ll know right away. Sign up today for your free trial or contact us sales@bnbguard.com.au today for more information.
