Service helps landlords spot illegal Airbnbs

Building Snitch is a service that will monitor third party rental sites, and alert the client anytime a listing for their property turns up.

Three quarters of Airbnb listings are illegal — with renters subletting rooms against building rules and the wishes of their landlords. Until now, property managers have been powerless to prevent their tenants making a buck through sublet platforms, but a new service aptly named Building Snitch will monitor third party rental sites and alert the client anytime a listing for their property turns up.

Building Snitch offers a similar service to the short-lived Huntbnb, which let landlords input their property’s address and provided all the nearby listings so that they could identify any of their units by the photographs. Building Snitch, on the other hand is a subscription service, which continuously monitors third party rental sites including Airbnb, VRBO, Couchsurfing and Homeaway. The platform uses search algorithms to automatically send notifications via email or text when an illegal listing is found.

Building Snitch is set to launch soon. Are there other downfalls of the ever-growing sharing economy that could benefit from monitoring?