A West London couple who claim their basement flat is being illegally sublet on Airbnb said they may have to sell to get out of debt from lost rent and legal fees as they look to evict their tenant.Yasmina Mathias, 62, and Robert Mathias, 74, said retirement was now “out of the question” as they figure out how to plug a potential £25,000 black hole in their finances.
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00:00A West London couple are claiming their basement flat is being illegally sublet on Airbnb
00:05and that they may have to sell their property to get out of debt from lost rent and legal fees as
00:10they look to evict their tenant. Yasmina and Robert Mathias said retirement was now out of
00:15the question as they figure out how to plug a potential £25,000 black hole in their finances.
00:21Robert claims he noticed something was wrong two weeks after signing a new tenancy agreement.
00:25The 74-year-old was at home when he noticed a family of four outside the property looking lost.
00:31When he approached them they said they had arrived from Mexico and had an Airbnb reservation for the
00:36basement apartment. The couple have become so fed up with constant visitors they've now resorted to
00:42placing a warning on their front window, warning potential guests that the basement flat is being
00:47sublet without their permission and that those staying will be reported to booking agencies.
00:52The Chelsea flat is believed to be advertised on holiday letting sites like booking.com,
00:57Top Hotels London, London Hotels, Airpads and Stays. After filing a complaint the letting
01:03agency said they would either investigate or take down the listing.