A New Zealand couple who spent more than $4,500 to rent an Airbnb in Toronto were evicted by police in the middle of the night after a man showed up claiming the apartment was his.
Syeda Farhana Shariff and Shariff Masudul Haque rented the apartment, advertised as a “luxury two-bedroom apartment,” located next to the CN Tower on Front Street, for a month.
“It was nowhere near luxury,” Hack told CTV News Toronto on Friday. “It didn’t look good and it’s a poorly maintained property.”
The tourists were more than two weeks into their month-long stay in Toronto when there was an unexpected knock on the door from a stranger around 1 a.m. Wednesday.
“He said we have to leave. I was really surprised by that,” Haque said.
According to Haque, the man claimed to be the legal tenant of the apartment.
CTV News Toronto has reviewed the couple’s Airbnb confirmation email, which shows they paid for the apartment from July 5 to August 2.
Haque and his wife said they initially refused to leave, but then the man called police.
“He called the cops and the cops said they were convinced with the paperwork that he was the tenant,” Haque said. “The police told us to leave the place within 30 minutes before things escalated. They didn’t care how we did it, they just wanted us out.”
Haque said they decided there was no point in arguing with the police, gathered their belongings and went into the lobby of the building.
Haque said they spent two hours on hold to speak to someone with Airbnb.
“They did nothing but say they would review the situation,” Haque said.
Hack said the couple found another place to stay for the rest of the night, but had to pay $580.
In a statement to CTV News Toronto, police said they responded to a call Wednesday about an “unwanted guest in an apartment building.”
Police said a man arrived at an apartment to find two people he did not know.
“The couple collected their belongings and left the unit upon the arrival of the police and confirmation that the appellant was the legal tenant of the unit,” police said.
Hacke said the couple received a message from Airbnb on Thursday afternoon saying they would be refunded, but still had no answers about what actually led to the incident.
In a statement to CTV News Toronto on Friday, an Airbnb spokesperson said they are “taking this incredibly seriously.”
“After investigation, the listing has been disabled and we have provided guests with a full refund for this experience.”
Haque said they were grateful for the refund, but felt Airbnb could have been “more proactive” in helping them at this time.
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