Renter accused of threatening to ‘send someone’ after landlord over $180k fine in Airbnb battle
Renter accused of threatening to ‘send someone’ after landlord over $180k fine in Airbnb battle
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Exclusive: The renter, who listed the apartment on Airbnb, told The Independent that he didn’t intend to come off as violent — and noted that he previously faced massive fines over his unlicensed cannabis dispensary. When a long-term tenant rented out the Las Vegas house he was leasing on Airbnb, the landlord was socked with over $180,000 in fines for dodging city laws on short-term rentals. The tenant then threatened to “send someone” after his landlord if he didn’t agree to release him from any responsibility for damage to the property, according to a federal lawsuit obtained by The Independent.
![[An Airbnb dispute turned into a six-figure fine, as well as a federal lawsuit]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/25/23/GettyImages-1183938168.jpg)
The fine came as a surprise to Tao, according to the complaint. So he contacted Murphy about the Airbnb rental, which Murphy flatly denied, states the lawsuit, filed against both Murphy and Aribnb. Murphy insisted the whole thing was a mistake, and said that Tao’s house had been improperly posted on the rental site, and that he had hired an attorney to fight the city’s claims, the complaint stated. Murphy told Tao that it was in fact a nearby home being rented, when in fact he “knew he was illegally renting” Tao’s property instead, and “continually misrepresented to [Tao] that he was not renting” his house, according to the complaint.
![[The suit against renter Ryan Murphy in a battle over an Airbnb rental]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/25/23/deckler-output-%2820%29.jpg)
Airbnb, meanwhile, allowed Murphy to list his home for rent on its site, “without properly verifying” whether he had the authority to do so, notes Tao’s suit. Murphy in the meantime, had “drafted a ‘termination agreement” which unilaterally ended the lease and absolved himself of any claims, the complaint states. It also alleges that Murphy warned Tao that if he didn’t agree to his terms he would be putting himself in physical danger.
