We're used to hearing bad things about 'old futon as DIY hotel' website Airbnb but not so much with its lesser known competition HomeAway.
From the EV Grieve inbox we are getting word from a resident of South Africa that there is possibly an illegal hotel room operating at 528 E. 13th Street ... in which the host may have walked off with the traveler's $200 deposit. Says her email:
"Good morning. I wonder if you could help me in anyway possible. I think I've been scammed, trying to rent an apartment listed on airbnb.com. The address 528 East 13th street, and investigating a bit, I came across your blog that reported on the collapse of part of the building.
I've paid a $200 deposit, and have since not heard from 'Andy Melton.' This is the 2nd time I've been scammed in 14 months trying to book an apartment in NYC, after having rented several different ones over the last 8 years.
The listing on Homeaway, not AirBnb as she mistakenly writes, was placed by someone who says he's a Property Manager at CitiStyle NYC, a relatively new company with offices at 444 Park Avenue. Melton previously emailed her info on the listing:
Thank you very much for your inquiry. This spacious and stylish alcove studio on 528 East 13th in the East Village is available for $150 a night plus a $70 cleaning fee for your desired dates. The total would be $1120. We don’t charge taxes or any other fees.
If interested in booking please let me know and I will forward you the rental agreement with the booking check in details.
Please feel free to let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.
All the best,
Andy Melton
CitiStyle NYC Property Manager
The HomeAway listing titled 'Stylish Alcove Studio in Great East Village Locale.' The interior shots of the apartment look too staged for a real person to be living there.
CitiStyle NYC has three listings — the East 13th Street unit and two in Midtown.
The area code listed for CitiStyle NYC is based in Northern Illinois...
This same number shows up on a Craigslist ad for a Wall Street "luxury rental" that someone named Blake is offering for "for $120 from February 14th to February 15th."
New York law prohibits stays of less than 30 days in all Class A buildings in the five boroughs. (We checked to see if 528 E. 13th St. was a Class A or B building, but there wasn't a Certificate of Occupancy of file with the DOB. See here.)
Anyway, perhaps someone at 528 E. 13th St. knows more about the apartment?
Thanks to new EV Grieve contributor Atomic for helping put together this post...
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6 comments:
Ugh let us know what u hear, I use this site as a cheaper alternative and would be so bummed if it's true.
Maybe there is one potential scammer who runs an ad on this site but that doesn't mean all or most of the listings are scams. I've had relatives and since then visiting friends rent apartments in the East Village/Soho/Flatiron and elsewhere outside of NYC through Homeaway (an excellent option especially when we had our baby and my parents came for an extended 2-week stay). You only hear about the random bad experiences, not the many good ones. Sits like airbnb and Homeaway do serve a purpose here.
I am a LL with some small bldgs, some in the EV. This happens quite often, and is RS tenants 1/2 the time. We have even had to deal with bedbugs from one of the apartments, which thankfully did not spread beyond.
Never pay a deposit up front. I rent out a room in my apartment for stays of a few months at a time and I always tell the renters they can pay me upon arrival. If you can't find someone willing to do it that way, then don't rent the room or apartment.
I am a resident of 528 E. 13th St. and I think the photos in the ad are of one of the two rear ground-floor apartments that were renovated after the chimney collapse last November. The ground floor apartments are the only apartments with front doors on that wall. I haven't seen the inside of the apartments but I have seen people going in and out of them. It doesn't seem like there are a lot of random people in the building but I'll be keeping a closer watch on who I see going in and out.
What is suspicious to me is that the address of the realtor we used to rent our apartment is at the same address of this guy Andy Melton at CitiStyle NYC. Our realtor was Alpha Properties at 444 Park Ave. Perhaps it's just a coincidence.
CitiStyle isn't even 6 months old and already they have Interpol on their case? Ha!
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