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A dispute over accommodation has allegedly left a visiting Chinese family thousands of dollars out of pocket during a short-term stay in New Zealand.
The row shines a light on the need for visitors to exercise caution when entering private contractual agreements for accommodation in the country.
The family has filed an application with the Disputes Tribunal, claiming that a woman on Auckland's North Shore owes them more than $6000 they had paid in advance for accommodation they had been asked to vacate before the contractual term had finished.
A Disputes Tribunal hearing on the dispute has been scheduled for November.
The North Shore woman, whom RNZ has decided not to name, claims to have also filed a complaint against the couple over allegedly defamatory statements the couple made to the owner's employer and Chinese media outlets.
Michael Yang and Chloe Liu arrived in New Zealand in the middle of July, planning to stay in Auckland through the end of August so their 7-year-old son could complete a study tour.
The couple found accommodation on the North Shore on homestay platform Airbnb that looked suitable and contacted the owner via the in-app message board.
The couple indicated the family was willing to pay up to $7500 for their seven-week stay, but the booking fee listed on Airbnb exceeded this figure.
After some discussion, the owner of the property reportedly suggested moving the conversation about the accommodation to social media platform WeChat so that neither party was liable for the service fees and tax deducted by Airbnb on the booking.
The parties agreed for the couple to pay the owner $7500 to use two bedrooms and a bathroom for the duration of their stay, sharing living space, a kitchen, parking space and other facilities with the owner.
The couple drafted an agreement that was signed by the owner.
In June, the couple transferred ¥10,000 yuan (about $2500) through WeChat's digital payment system as a bond.
In July, they paid a further ¥22,160 yuan (about $5000) in advance to cover the first month of their stay as per the agreement.
The agreement also said the couple should pay another $2500 in mid-August to cover the final two weeks of their stay.
The agreement referred to Airbnb regulations regarding any changes, cancellations and "responsibilities and obligations".
Nine days after the family arrived, the owner reportedly asked them to leave without notice that day, telling RNZ later their presence made her feel uncomfortable.
The family left the same day, moving into a nearby hotel.
The couple asked several times for the owner to return the money they paid in advance to stay at the property, estimating it to be a little more than $6000.
The owner refused to return the money.
The couple filed a complaint with the police, who advised them to lodge a claim with the Disputes Tribunal as it was a civil matter.
Police confirmed a complaint had been lodged.
The owner told RNZ she wanted the Disputes Tribunal to rule on the case before returning the money as the amount owed and number of nights the family stayed were in dispute.
She also claimed that Airbnb regulations excused her from returning the money paid in advance.
The owner claimed the dispute had caused her immense stress.
The family recently returned to China and planned to attend the tribunal hearing via teleconference.
A spokesperson for Airbnb New Zealand and Australia said company policy prohibited members from asking or encouraging guests to book outside of its platform.
"As this booking took place off Airbnb's platform, the user was not eligible for protections under our cancellation and refund policies, host damage protection, host liability insurance, terms of service, payments terms of service and other safeguards," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson warned users to stay on the platform when communicating, booking and paying for accommodation.
To protect users, the platform blocked messages from being sent if systems detected that they contained words or numbers that might include contact information, references to other sites or external links.
"In the rare event anyone is asked to go off-site to book, they should end communication and report it to us," the spokesperson said.
Lucy Telfar Barnard, a senior research fellow at the Wellington campus of Otago University, said people staying in shared living spaces with property owners were generally not protected by the Residential Tenancies Act, and needed to lodge claims with the Disputes Tribunal in the event of a disagreement.
Anyone living in a shared space with the owner of the property could be asked to leave without notice, Barnard said.
Barnard advised people to use official channels when booking accommodation, and, if that is not possible, draft an agreement specifying the terms.
"If you're going through a platform like Airbnb, [it will] keep all of your arrangements through that platform," she said.
"If you're staying for more than a few nights, then I would recommend that you have some kind of written agreement that you can then refer to if you end up in a dispute about it."
