Airbnb Squatters In California: Maksym and Denys Pashanin Have No Regrets, History Of Scams
The Airbnb squatters in California have said they would do it all again, but the company they utilized has now banned them from their site. Maksym Pashanin and Denys Pashanin have caused a lot of chaos with their scheme, and Business Insider notes that this isn’t their first brush with questionable activities.
Maksym Pashanin also apparently initiated a 2013 Kickstarter campaign that raised nearly $40,000. The funds were to be used for a video game called Confederate Express, and backers had been given an estimated ship date of June 2014. So far, the game has not been delivered and while Pashanin has offered up some excuses, his backers suspect he is scamming them. Business Insider says they have confirmed that the Pashanin brothers are behind the Kickstarter campaign and are the same men involved in the Airbnb squatter California situation.
The Pashanin brothers have allegedly taken advantage of state tenant laws in California to take hold of Cory Tschogl’s Palm Springs property. They originally booked the property via the site Airbnb and indicated they would stay for 44 days. Then they demanded a refund and refused to leave. The laws now protect them, and Tschogl has to wage a legal battle to evict them as they now officially have renters’ protections, notes the New York Daily News. This story may remind some of the other recent California squatter story involving a nanny who refused to leave after she stopped working. She has since vacated that home.
It has also been discovered that the Airbnb squatter in California has sued a previous landlord. Maksym apparently tried to get $10,000 from a San Francisco homeowner in October 2012 because of construction noise that he claimed created a nuisance. The case was thrown out of court. Now that he is in the headlines, does Maksym have any regrets? Apparently the answer to that is no.
The Desert Sun shares that the Airbnb squatter in California admits that “10/10, would squat again,” indicating that others looking to rent out their places should keep an eye out for the Pashanin brothers. Tschogl is said to be utilizing a lawyer to work through the process of getting the brothers out of her Palm Springs condo, and it seems that may take a while yet.
Where will Maksym and Denys land next? Unfortunately it seems likely they will try to set up a new scheme targeting another unsuspecting homeowner, but Airbnb spokesman Nick Papas told Business Insider that they won’t be able to utilize their community again. Unfortunately it sounds as if these two brothers are pretty savvy and will surely find other means to score another shady deal, whether it be in finding a rent-free living situation or another Kickstarter-type of funding opportunity.
How long will it take before the Airbnb squatters in California are out of the Palm Springs condo? That much isn’t clear, and it would appear that the Pashanin brothers have no intention of making it easy on Tschogl.
[Photo via Yahoo!]
