I was banned from Airbnb over a ‘minor crime’ committed a DECADE ago – even though I’ve used service for years

 

An Airbnb woman has been banned for LIFE after a background check revealed a crime she committed nearly a decade ago.

Bethany Hallam, 32, was shocked when she received the explosive email just three hours after she was booked.

The sports fan had booked her "dream birthday trip" for five nights to watch some soccer matches in late October.

But on Tuesday she was told that her £1,030 flat in Miami, Florida, had been canceled and paid for.

Bethany, Pittsburgh, United States,

She had been using the rental service for several years before they suddenly told her it was forbidden.

Airbnb notified her that it had found a "criminal record match" while conducting an "evaluation" of her account.

The company told Bethany that the discovery meant she would receive a lifetime ban - even though the crime was nine years ago.

The frustrated 32-year-old was horrified by the harsh sentence in connection with a crime in 2013.

She was imprisoned for five months for drug possession after she was caught with Suboxone,

Medication to treat opioid dependence.

But the time she spent behind bars gave Bethany a push to turn her life around - seeing her become an Allegheny County councillor.

She told CoventryLive: "After I got out of prison I put all the energy I could into getting back into my community.

I got out of prison, recovered, and then entered the world of politics.”

So she couldn't believe Airbnb had dumped her old life and seemed to be punishing her for it nearly a decade later.

She had no convictions on her record from before 2015 - when Airbnb brought in a criminal background check policy in the US

.

Bethany continued, "I know my record because I talk about it a lot.

"For them to ban me for it - it was confusing. What are the guidelines for who gets to be banned?"

But she was even more baffled because she had used the booking site for years without any issues.

shock and friction

The customer shared a screenshot from the email exchange on social media which later went viral, prompting the platform to contact her.

In a dramatic turn, Airbnb then unblocked Bethany, allowing her to use their service again.

But the despised councilman said, "I don't really care about being reinstated, my reaction was more shock and frustration.

“I am more concerned about anyone else who is not an elected official, who does not have a social media platform to help them get back in office.

“A lot of people are discriminated against because of their past,

Reversing the ban doesn't solve the problem, I see it as a PR stunt.

"Airbnb could think I'm going to shut up and go away because I've been reinstated, but I'm going to keep fighting them."

She claims that a series of disgruntled users contacted her and complained about similar scenarios in the aftermath of the incident.