Professional landlords must shake their heads in wonderment at the gullibility of people who let strangers move into their places with the fingers-crossed credentials acquired from Airbnb. Another Toronto horror story has come to light as told by photographer Matthew Lyn. He had his place looted by a man and woman with a child early in March. They took him for $21,000 in valuables and his SIN card too. It runs against the “trust everyone” mantra of so many people but this is not at all surprising in the circumstances. The Airbnb name is derived from the earliest origins of the company when a founder used an air bed to billet someone and then merged half of that term with the short form for bed and breakfast (bnb). Fine, but the warm and fuzzy notion of a renter-community built on trust after a couple of phone calls is chancy to say the least. Trust isn’t built on a phone call. Mr. Lyn’s case is very sad. CBC
