Airbnb hosts named and shamed on ‘Wanted’ posters in San Francisco
Anonymously posted leaflets, with the names and faces of 12 people said to be renting out Chinatown, San Francisco, homes through Airbnb, blame the hosts for “destroying affordable housing for immigrant, minority and low-income families”. The “Wanted” posters were distributed around the Chinatown area last month and show the growing frustration in the area, known for a lack of affordable rentals, with the home-sharing platform.

It's unclear if all of the individuals featured on the flyer rent out their residences on Airbnb

City supervisor Aaron Peskin said landlords who illegally rent out apartment units on Airbnb could face penalties

It's unclear who is responsible for creating and posting the flyers

housing for low-income, minority and immigrant families' by renting Chinatown units on Airbnb

Wanted posters are being found plastered across one neighborhood in San Francisco featuring the names and photographs of 12 residents accusing them of 'Airbnb'ing' the community.

The flyers claim those featured on it of not only gentrifying the Chinatown neighborhood in the city, but also 'destroying affordable housing' for low-income, minority and immigrant families through renting apartment units in the area on popular housing site Airbnb.

The posters that name and shame the individual Airbnb hosts were posted around Chinatown in the pricey city as early as last month.

It's unclear who is responsible for creating them, but city supervisor Aaron Peskin said the wanted flyers express how some residents are frustrated.

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Wanted?: Wanted posters (above) are being found plastered across the Chinatown neighborhood in San Francisco featuring the names and photographs of 12 residents accusing them of 'Airbnb'ing' the community

The flyers claim those featured on it of not only gentrifying Chinatown (file above), but also 'destroying affordable housing' for low-income, minority and immigrant families through renting apartment units on Airbnb

'I think it's an expression of the frustration people all over San Francisco are feeling,' Peskin, who who represents the district that includes Chinatown, told NBC Bay Area.

He told the Guardian, 'It expresses a growing sentiment and a reality that the community is being exploited by speculators and unscrupulous players in the housing market.

'There's no question that there are an increasing amount of illegal short-term rentals throughout the city and in Chinatown.'

Peskin said that landlords who illegally rent out apartment units on the site could face penalties.

'I'm talking about unscrupulous speculators who come in and evict five- and six-unit buildings ... and turn them into illegal 24/7 hotels,' he said. 'There's no place for that in San Francisco.'

It's unclear if all of the individuals featured on the flyer rent out their residences on Airbnb.

Justin Hobbs, who is featured on the poster, is threatening legal action if he finds out who is responsible for creating it.

Hobbs, who lives in the Nob Hill neighborhood and not Chinatown, told the Guardian that he's seen the flyer around the city and is upset about it.

'I've seen this flyer and have reported it to AirBnB and will be filing a police report. If I'm able to find the creator of the flyer, there will also be a lawsuit filed for slander as this is completely untrue.'

The posters that name and shame the individual Airbnb hosts were posted around Chinatown (file above) in the pricey city as early as last month

It's unclear who is responsible for creating them and posting them in Chinatown (file above), but city supervisor Aaron Peskin said the wanted flyers express how some residents are frustrated

He added that he doesn't rent out his apartment, since it is his only residence.

Another person on the flyer who didn't want to be identified said that he doesn't even live in San Francisco.

He admitted to using Airbnb once, but it was several years ago and his account is deactivated now.

'I don't see that what I did was criminal,' he said. 'The reason why I left San Francisco is because it was way over gentrified and it was impossible to live as an artist, and now to get blamed as a gentrifier is just funny.'

Historically Chinatwon is an area of the city that has 'been preserved and defended against gentrification,' according to Joyce Lam of the Chinese Progressive Association.

The group helps to organize workers and tenants in the populated neighborhood.

Back in the 1980s, zoning laws that were enacted protected the amount of single-room occupancy (SROs) hotels that served as affordable, low cost housing for newly arrived immigrants and elderly Chinese Americans, the Guardian reported.

Justin Hobbs, a man who is featured on the poster, is threatening legal action if he finds out who is responsible for creating it. He said he doesn't rent out his apartment on Airbnb (file above), since it's his only residence

Another poster (above) found plastered in the Mission district of San Francisco as early as 12 weeks ago featured the photos of tech CEOS from Facebook to Uber

Lam described the SROs as feeling 'like a village' due to the shared kitchens and bathrooms that many of the multi-generation families lived in.

However, now those units that were only occupied through word of mouth in the community or Chinese language flyers advertising an available spot are being publicized on Airbnb and other short-term rental websites.

Lam said landlords have now realized they can earn more money by renting them out to single adults, white people and college graduates than who the units were once intended for.

'It's changed the fabric of the SROs. It's a different kind of feeling,' Lam said, noting that the new residents occupying the spaces cannot communicate with Cantonese-speaking tenants.

According to a survey conducted by the Chinatown Community Development Center, the average rent price of an SRO room increased from $610 in 2013 to $970 in 2015.

As of June, the average rent in the city was $3,907.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Airbnb said: 'We are more interested in having a meaningful discussion about San Francisco's longstanding housing issues than responding to anonymous attacks on individual San Franciscans.'