A HOMEOWNER is being charged $180,000 in fees after being accused of running an unauthorized Airbnb.

The homeowner claimed that he had no knowledge of the fines and was being scammed by the tenant living in his home.

A landlord found a notice of $180,000 in unpaid fines, claiming the property was an illegal Airbnb, taped to the window of his property after his long-term tenant moved outCredit: Getty

The homeowner fought the fees with the Las Vegas City Council but the council voted to uphold the finesCredit: Las Vegas Review

Xin Tao purchased his five-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Las Vegas in 2021, Business Insider reported.

When Tao originally bought the house he had considered the possibility of listing it as an Airbnb but quickly abandoned that plan in exchange for hosting a long term tenant.

The tenant moved into Tao’s new home in September 2021, three months after he had purchased the house.

While the tenant occupied the Vegas home, Tao managed the property from his home in Oregon.

Only a few weeks after the new tenant moved in, neighbors began to complain about an excessive amount of cars on the property and noises coming from the house that disrupted the community.

Vegas officials came to the property in October 2021 and February 2022 in response to the complaints, but rather than being greeted by the tenant the officials were greeted by Airbnb guests.

After the second incident in February, officials issued $2,132 in fines against Tao for running an illegal Airbnb.

The fees totaled up to $500 a day for the four days the Airbnb guests said they were staying at the property.

Following the incident, Tao was under the impression that his tenant had stopped renting out the property as an Airbnb and that all was resolved.

Over a year later, Tao would come to find out that he was wrong.

Since Tao was residing in Oregon, he had no access to the Vegas property to ensure that the tenant had stopped renting the house out to short term renters.

In September 2023, Tao’s tenant left the property, leaving behind a lot more than he came with.

The landlord’s cleaner arrived to clean the home and found a notice of $180,000 in unpaid fines stuck to the window.

“I was shocked. I didn’t know what was going on. I thought it might be fraud,” Tao told Business Insider.

“How do we go from $2,000 to $180,000?”

This January, Tao pleaded with the Las Vegas City Council to relieve him of the fine, but the council unanimously voted against him.

Las Vegas City Council’s initiative to crack down on short term rentals began in 2019 after residents consistently complained about excessive parties, prostitution and drugs in their communities.

“I am constantly getting texts, emails, calls, pulled aside in the grocery store about short-term rentals,” Councilman Brian Knudsen said.

“If we continue to erode laws by not enforcing the fees and fines associated with them, we continue to lose the dignity of our neighborhoods.”

Tao continues to fight the hefty fines levied against him.