PHILADELPHIA – Airbnb is seeking to dismiss or stay all proceedings in the case of a South Philly landlord whose property sustained extensive damages in 2020, allegedly from a renter-turned-squatter who then subletted the residential space.
Joseph Foresta first filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on March 30 versus Airbnb, Inc., of San Francisco, Calif.
“At all times relevant herein plaintiff listed his apartments at 1514 Christian Street as a host property with defendant Airbnb. These apartments were all newly furnished. At the time plaintiff listed his property at 1514 Christian Street with defendant Airbnb, defendant Airbnb advised plaintiff that before it accepted a reservation from a prospective guest, they thoroughly vetted the prospective guest, led plaintiff to believe it was responsible for the safety of the host’s property from any damage caused by the guest to the host’s property, and it would be responsible for any over stay of the guests beyond the time reserved and paid for by the guest,” the suit said.
“At all times relevant herein, by accepting guests from defendant Airbnb, plaintiff relied upon these assurances made by defendant Airbnb and believed that defendant Airbnb would protect him from a guest causing property damage and/or overstaying their prepaid reservation. An adult individual by the name of Lawrence H. Jackson made a reservation with defendant Airbnb for one night, June 13, 2020, as a guest in the second-floor apartment of plaintiff’s property at 1514 Christian Street. Defendant Airbnb collected the rent for one night from Jackson.”
The suit added that on June 14, 2020, Jackson refused to vacate the property and remained living in the property until plaintiff was able to obtain a Court order for the Sheriff to remove him from the property on Sept. 9, 2020.
“After June 14, 2020 Lawrence H. Jackson took possession of the entire 1514 Christian Street property, he: A) Changed the locks on the outside door to the building so plaintiff could not gain access to the property and B) Proceeded to rent out the other two apartments to four to six people per apartment, and collected rent from his ‘tenants’. At no time did plaintiff give permission to Jackson to remain living in the building after June 14, 2020, to change the locks on the outside door, and allow him to rent the apartments to persons unknown to plaintiff and collect rent from those unknown persons,” the suit stated.
“Jackson and the occupants that Jackson allowed to live in the property did extensive damage to the interior and exterior of the property, including but not limited to, damaging the furniture and piling up to five feet of trash on the sidewalk outside the front and back of the property, defacing the exterior walls, breaking the doors and windows, breaking the water pipes, breaking the appliances, breaking the bathroom fixtures, breaking the banister on the stairs, breaking the fire alarms, damaging the walls and floors and breaking the patio railing.”
Foresta said when tried to gain access to the property, one of the occupants “physically attacked him, striking him with a baseball bat to his head and to his stomach and threatened to kill him if he ever returned to the property, causing the plaintiff to sustain serious bodily injuries, including a subsequent stroke, and he was fearful of ever returning to the property.”
“From the time Jackson overstayed his reserved time, plaintiff made many attempts to contact defendant Airbnb, but his calls were never returned. After plaintiff retained legal counsel, letters were written by his counsel to defendant. Airbnb, none of which were acknowledged. It was not until August 2020 that defendant Airbnb finally ‘acknowledged’ the communications, but did nothing to remove Jackson from the property or to address the damage done to the property. On Aug. 10, 2020, plaintiff instituted a legal action by filing a complaint in ejectment against Jackson and other unknown occupants and a petition for injunctive relief, docketed at case No. 200800813 and incurred attorney’s fees and costs of $4,500,” the suit continued.
“A hearing was held on Sept. 9, 2020 at which time the Court ordered that a writ of possession be issued against Jackson and unknown occupants, and they were removed from the property by the Sheriff. The damage done to the property and the furnishings was in excess of $75,000. The damage was so excessive that even after Jackson and the unknown occupants were removed, it was impossible to rent the apartments. It took plaintiff until December 2021 to repair the damage to the property.”
The suit said that Airbnb violated the implied contract with the plaintiff, by failing to do anything to remove Jackson from 1514 Christian Street after June 14, 2020, or to repair the damage to the property.
As a result of said breach of its implied contract, the plaintiff suffered damages as follows:
• Loss of rental income from the entire property from June 14, 2020 until Dec. 30, 2021 of $91,200;
• Repairs to the damage property and replacing the furniture of $75,000;
• Attorney’s fees, court costs and Sheriff’s fee incurred by plaintiff in bringing and prosecuting the ejectment action of $4,500.
On April 11, Airbnb filed to remove the case to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, citing diversity of citizenship between the parties and the amount of damages in question exceeding the federal threshold of $75,000.
UPDATE
Airbnb motioned on May 4 to compel arbitration and stay the proceedings, or alternatively, to dismiss the complaint through lack of personal jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2).
“Plaintiff’s claims – based on damages allegedly incurred while serving as the host of an accommodation he listed on Airbnb’s online marketplace – cannot proceed in this forum for two reasons. First, plaintiff must pursue all claims against Airbnb in binding arbitration. It is undisputed that plaintiff consented to Airbnb’s Terms of Service and Host Guarantee Terms, both of which include mandatory arbitration agreements. Those arbitration agreements cover all claims arising out of or relating to the use of the platform or any Airbnb service, including plaintiff’s listing of his property as a host and delegates all questions concerning arbitrability to the arbitrator. Thus, the Court should compel plaintiff to binding arbitration and stay all proceedings in the interim,” the motion stated.
“Second, even if plaintiff is not subject to mandatory arbitration (which he is), the Court should dismiss plaintiff’s claims against Airbnb for lack of personal jurisdiction. As an out-of-state defendant that simply operates an internet platform accessible to anyone in the world with internet access, plaintiff cannot establish that Airbnb is subject to either general or specific personal jurisdiction in Pennsylvania. Airbnb does not have continuous and systematic contacts with Pennsylvania for purposes of general personal jurisdiction. Nor can plaintiff demonstrate the required connections for specific personal jurisdiction. Airbnb does not have the requisite minimum contacts with Pennsylvania, nor do plaintiff’s claims arise out of or relate to any such contacts with Pennsylvania. Thus, the Court should dismiss plaintiff’s complaint as to Airbnb for lack of personal jurisdiction in the alternative to compelling plaintiff to arbitration.”
For a lone count of breach of contract, the plaintiff is seeking damages of $170,000, plus interest, attorney’s fees and other costs as allowed by the Court.
The plaintiff is represented by Joyce Ullman in Philadelphia.
The defendant is represented by Kelly J. Fox of Gerolamo McNulty Divis & Lewbart, in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:23-cv-01379
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 220601113
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com