A former investor with Boston-based General Catalyst Partners has been slapped with nearly 10 thousand dollars worth of fines, after a tenant he rented a Cambridge condo to last year secretly listed the unit on AirBNB

Bilal Zuberi, a current partner at Lux Capital in Palo Alto, California, describes the situation he’s dealing with as a “shit show.”

He elaborated on his predicament Tuesday afternoon via Twitter.

 

Speaking in cliches, AirBNB is one of the sharing-economy’s biggest disruptors; AirBNB “connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price point, in more than 34,000 cities and 190 countries,” the company states on it’s website. To further muddy this explanation: it’s the Uber for travel and vacationing.

Renters or home owners can place their apartment, condo, or home on AirBNB for rent. Users who rent a place on AirBNB subsequently make cashless payments via the company’s website; AirBNB collects a 6 percent to 12 percent service fee, and dishes the host the rest.

Once a host lists a unit, he or she, in essence, becomes his or her own landlord and broker.

Like Uber’s uberX service, certain jurisdictions have placed restrictions on AirBNB, including in Massachusetts.

In an email sent to BostInno, Zuberi said he’s “sure” the condo building has a no-sublease rule to protect residents. “I never paid attention to it though and never thought a tenant would sublease this way.”

By the time Zuberi was made aware that the condo tenant he said he rented to hosted an AirBNB guest for 19 nights, it was too late: each night the tenant rented the condo cost Zuberi $500, amounting to $9,500 in total fines; however, Zuberi said a condo association could take mercy on him and reduce the financial penalty.

 

To complicate matters, Zuberi himself was at General Catalyst when the firm invested in AirBNB. AirBNB has contacted Zuberi to discuss the issue, “and I am happy to” Zuberi acknowledged in his email.

“Of course I wish AirBNB well,” Zuberi said, adding that he’s a “big supporter of the sharing economy overall.”

Screenshots via AirBNB; bilalzuberi.com

You can read more stories on Boston startups, technology and innovation at https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/inno