Tenants fight back with PIs staking out Airbnb units

New York

IN A gentrifying neighbourhood of San Francisco, a couple exit their cab and head towards an apartment, rolling suitcases behind them. Unbeknownst to them, a private investigator by the name of Michael Joffe sits in his parked car just across the street, discreetly snapping pictures.

This is not a divorce case waiting to happen or an international spy caper. Nothing that salacious or mysterious. It is instead an episode that provides a window into how bitter the feud between struggling tenants and home-sharing websites such as Airbnb Inc has become. Mr Joffe works for a tenant lawyer who in turn represents a family that was evicted from their apartment - the one that the couple was entering that day.