An Airbnb host caught his guests lying about their reasons for booking his beachside property and posted a video about it on TikTok. But not every user is enthusiastic about how he uncovered the lie in the first place.
TikTok user Mortgage Fox (@themortgagefox) is a Airbnb host and mortgage lender based in Maryland. On Sunday, Fox posted a video about the “family” that booked his Airbnb and his suspicions about their dishonesty. It has since amassed more than 7.9 million views.
“Well, the ‘family’ that booked my rental Airbnb at the beach—they’re not a family,” Fox says in the video. “But, I checked the door locks this morning, and they were in and out of the property from midnight till 5am. Good for you. Sounds like you had a good time. I’m all about it. But we only rent to families.” He displays a screenshot of a smart lock log that shows the door opened and closed multiple times.
Fox says he’s not planning on calling or texting the renters about his suspicions. “So be it, they had to lie to get my place,” he says. “My place is really nice. They didn’t distract any of my neighbors—or my neighbors would’ve contacted me already.” That’s because Fox has some older neighbors in the area who are known to complain about noise or disturbances at the rental property.
But Fox is planning on doing something with this information. “Now that I know that they’re in and out of the property until 5am—that means they probably like to party,” Fox says. “Which means they’re probably going to really enjoy this free late check out that I’m going to offer them. You kind of have to know your guest.”
Fox says that he plans to offer the guests a two-hour late checkout for free. “Because I want that five-star review,” he says. “I want them to have a great time at their stay. Even though they lied to me. Not the end of the world. But now I’m going to use that lie to help get another five-star review.”
In the caption, Fox wrote, “If someone lies to you when they book your short-term rental, Airbnb, VRBO—make sure you use any information you find during their stay to help you get a five-star review. If you know they are family with young kids, maybe send them a Starbucks gift card since they’re up early early in the mornings. If you know they party all night, give them a free late check out. … But also make sure you ask for the five-star review if they enjoy their stay. Operating short-term rentals not set it and forget it. It’s not residual income. It is a full-time job. Do not start investing in short-term rentals hoping for easy money.”
@themortgagefox If someone lies to you when they book your short-term rental Airbnb VRBO make sure you use any information you find during their stay to help you get a five star review. If you know, they are family with young kids maybe send them a Starbucks gift card since they’re up early early in the mornings. If you know, they party all night give them a free late check out. If someone complains about dirty floors and you have to send your cleaning people back over there and they were not lying about the dirty floors to get a free stay maybe give them a free clean at the end and eat that money. But also make sure you ask for the five star review, if they enjoy their stay. Operating short term rentals not set it and forget it. It’s not residual income. It is a full-time job. Do not start investing in short term rentals hoping for easy money.#airbnb #landlord ♬ original sound – The Mortgage Fox
Viewers have concerns
In the comments section, some users asked for advice on short-term rental management. Others weren’t as enthusiastic about the means by which Fox secured this information.
One user wrote, “This reallyyyy makes me not wanna use airbnb at all.” Fox replied, “Why because hotels don’t have cameras?”
A second user said, “Why I stopped staying at air bnbs. Always felt “watched”. Too invasive.”
However, someone else wrote, “I think a camera on the front of the house and back of the house is reasonable. You want to know who’s in your home! Idk why everyone says they’re not staying in an Airbnb now.”
Fox responded, “Thank you so much. I have over 1000 positive reviews and it’s not because I’m not doing things the right way. These people don’t own anything.”
It appears from this Reddit post to r/Airbnb that most hosts use smart locks for convenience and other logistical reasons, and not necessarily to spy on their guests. It alleviates the need for a person to hand over the key, and makes it easier for the cleaning crew to enter the property between stays.
In another post from around the same time, a redditor asks if there’s a device that can actually detect more precisely how many people are staying in an Airbnb at one time. “I’m looking to book this Airbnb however I’m a little concerned about something in the rules that states: ‘the unit is equipped with a device that shows how many people are in the property’ and when I contacted the host to clarify what kind of device she said: ‘the device is a smart home device that we purchased from Airbnb and it indicates the number of people in the home, it is not a camera or any sort of recording device’. Is this a thing? Or is she just trying to scare her guests into not having parties?” the user wrote.
In response, a user noted that there is a service called Party Squasher, which purports to be “the first guest occupancy counter for homes.” It uses the home’s router to count the number of mobile devices in and around the house. Another user pointed out the Party Squasher isn’t a recording device and, therefore, isn’t subject to Airbnb’s reporting requirements.
The Daily Dot reached out to Mortgage Fox via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. We also reached out to Airbnb via email for comment.
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