Couchsurfing Is Not A Crime

I purchased a brand new 3 bed, 2.5 bath townhouse at the SF Shipyard at the end of November 2016, shortly after I finalized my divorce.

As I am currently working with a custody evaluator to allow for overnight stays by my 14-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son, I decided to get a roommate and host International guests for free on occasion via Couchsurfing.com.

I have a passion for travel and culture, having spent my junior year of High School in Barcelona, Spain with School Year Abroad. Additionally, while a student at Pomona College I lived and studied in Madrid, Spain for a semester. I also produced ScopeDay, the first live streamed travel 'Pass The Cast' event on Nov 7, 2015 which was written about in Adweek/Social Times and the Periscope Blog.

Couchsurfing

The Couchsurfing website states the following: "Stay with Locals and Meet Travelers - Share Authentic Travel Experiences". Unlike home sharing sites such as AirBnB & HomeAway there is no exchange of money.

The following are reviews from travelers who have stayed with me in San Francisco:

FirstService Residential makes a false statement

On April 7, 2017 townhouse owners at the SF Shipyard received an email from FirstService Residential stating the following:

Short Term Rentals

As a reminder, listing all or part of your unit on a short term rental website like Airbnb, CouchSurfing or HomeAway are in violation of the Operating Standards.

Additionally, I received the following letter in the mail:

It was not difficult to conclude that the request to appear before the Townhomes Board of Directors was because they erroneously thought Couchsurfing was a short term rental.

A simple Google search for rental produces the following:

ren·tal

1. an amount paid or received as rent.

Reaching out to the Couchsurfing team

I decided to email the Couchsurfing team and received the following email.

Hi Mike,

Thanks for being a dedicated member of our community! As you know, Couchsurfing is free to join, free to use, and we don’t allow Hosts to charge Surfers to stay. That can be seen on our Couchsurfing Policies page and in our Terms of Use:

https://www.couchsurfing.com/about/policies

https://www.couchsurfing.com/about/terms-of-use

Hosts are not permitted to ask for money or any form or reimbursement in exchange for a place to stay. As noted on our site, Couchsurfing is a global community of 14 million members who share their life, their world, and their journeys. It’s a network of people willing to share in profound and meaningful ways, making travel and truly social experience - payment not allowed. In that way, Couchsurfing stands apart from Airbnb and similar sites. To be clear, we expressly prohibit any exchange of money for shelter. 

Thanks,

Don Fultz

Head of Safety and Support

It is evident both from Couchsurfing's website and email from their team that there is no exchange of money, and a call with San Francisco's Office of Short Term Rentals also reached the same conclusion.

Conflict Of Interest

My next door neighbor is a Citywide Sales Executive for Marriott at the San Francisco Marquis, as well as one of 2 homeowners who sits on the 5 person Board of Directors of the Townhomes Board of Directors. Through info provided by a city employee, on information and belief, I think he was the one who filed the complaint. The April 16, 2017 New York Times article of the hotel industry actively combating AirBnB was a particularly interesting read given the complaint I was to be heard on: Inside the Hotel Industry's Plan To Combat AirBnB. There is a HUGE conflict of interest here and as such, my next door neighbor should recuse himself from having a voice in this matter.

Refusing To Be Bullied

I have decided to retain legal counsel in anticipation of litigation or legal proceedings. I also believe the Townhomes Board of Directors did not follow proper procedures in this matter. As someone having a history of being an activist, I refuse to be bullied. I am the plaintiff in a $5 Million Dollar Defamation of Character Lawsuit and have a $57,200 default judgement against a former business associate.

After involving my attorney, we were informed by the Townhome's counsel that they would be hearing me for a 'nuisance' charge.

Civil Code § 3479 defines a nuisance as “[anything] which is injurious to health, or is indecent or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property …”

The statutory definition of nuisance obviously does not encompass Couchsurfing.

In Conclusion

I have been hosting Couchsurfers, friends, and individuals involved in my angel investments.

I refuse to allow the SF Shipyard Townhomes Board of Directors to fine me or stop me from hosting guests in my primary residence that I paid over $1 million dollars in cash.

I have zero intention of backing down on this matter and will #resist this By Any Means Necessary.