Housing Anywhere
Reviews and Complaints

I had an absolutely terrible experience with HousingAnywhere, and I cannot recommend this service to anyone. This platform claims to provide protection and a "stress-free move-in," but my experience was far from it.

The landlord actively encouraged me to move our conversations off the platform, claiming that HousingAnywhere takes a 25% commission. She offered me a "special offer" through the platform just so I could get her contact information and finalize the booking privately. This is a direct violation of HousingAnywhere’s policies, and the platform failed to protect me as a tenant despite charging me a tenant protection fee.

When I arrived, the apartment was in appalling condition. The room was dirty, with unmade beds, a bad smell throughout the apartment, drying sheets scattered around, wet towels left behind, and even open water bottles that were not mine. The advertised “full closet space” was nonexistent, as the closet and drawers were full of the landlord’s personal items, such as paint buckets, brushes, and clothing, leaving me nowhere to store my belongings or university materials. This was not only misleading but unacceptable.

I reported these issues within 24 hours, as HousingAnywhere’s policy states, and provided photographic evidence. Despite this, I was told that my situation did not meet their criteria for a refund, even though the conditions were clearly poor and differed from what was advertised. I had no choice but to find alternative accommodations that same night at my own expense, as the space was unfit for living.

The lack of accountability from HousingAnywhere is shocking. They did nothing to address the landlord’s blatant policy violations, nor did they ensure that I received the protection I paid for. This platform offers no real security to tenants, despite charging fees for tenant "protection."

Do not trust HousingAnywhere for your housing needs. Their policies are poorly enforced, their customer service is unhelpful, and they leave tenants vulnerable to exploitation by landlords who break the rules. My experience was stressful, costly, and utterly disappointing. Save yourself the trouble and look elsewhere for accommodation.

I had an extremely disappointing experience with HousingAnywhere!

I was shocked to discover that they charge a CANCELLATION FEE of €390!

This hefty fee was not made clear at the time of booking; instead, it was hidden in the fine print, easily overlooked until it was too late.

This lack of transparency in disclosing significant costs upfront is misleading and unfair to consumers.

I STRONGLY ADVISE AGAINST USING THIS WEBSITE FOR YOUR NEXT FLAT RENTAL. Look for more straightforward and honest platforms that won't surprise you with excessive fees!

Housinganywhere.com is advertising in Portugal and do not have any payment methods available for Portuguese bank accounts. All the banks methods you need are German, Polish, or Austria bank account or Netherlands bank account. They should not be advertising in Portugal is there is no appropriate payment methods attached to a Portuguese bank account.

I made a booking for a room in Munich. Upon arrival, I noticed that the apartment was in a terrible condition. There were tears in the kitchen floor, kitchen itself was also starting to chip and fall apart here and there. The Bathrooms were so filthy that I would never feel comfortable stepping into the shower without slippers. Even the tenants there immediately informed me that Housing Anywhere does not care about improving the conditions in the apartments, or even bother to stop by on occasion to inspect the conditions. Therefore, I decided to cancel the booking the next morning, still within the first 24 hours of making the booking. The cancellation went through, but Housing Anywhere decided that they do not want to refund me the service fee of €166.25. I took a few photos of the damages and filth in the apartment and shared this with customer service when trying to get my refund, but this seemed to be an acceptable standard for HousingAnywhere. They claimed that "After reviewing the images I provided, it appears that the accommodation aligns with the pictures available on the listing page." Obviously the pictures do not accurately depict everything wrong with the apartment. These wide angle photos do not allow customer service to see enough details in the photos to make an informed decision. Now in hindsight, I know I should have taken a lot more and a lot closer photos to really see the damages and filth, but I never imagined Housing Anywhere would make it so difficult to get a full refund. Anyone who enters the apartment in real life would agree with what I am saying, and I find it extremely disrespectful and extremely unethical to be taken advantage like this by such a large company. If possible I would love to go back to the apartment with someone working for Housing Anywhere so the can see the truth of the apartment in person.

TLDR;

Don’t use their platform. Total scam.

I booked an apartment for 3 months starting March 2023 over their website.

Exactly 24 hours after the booking confirmation (the period where you can still cancel the booking) the advertiser started ignoring my messages.

After contacting housinganywhere.com support i finally reached them (on the day of the move in).

They were still ignoring all(!) my questions, including me asking for a reason why they ignored my attempts to contact them for a week.

Instead they say “meet you today”. How can i move apartments on such a short notice?

According to housinganywhere.com cancellation policy i should be eligible for a refund (their cancellation form even has a checkbox for “unresponsive advertiser” (I’m paraphrasing).

15.16.2.5.

The accommodation is not available for the tenant's use for the agreed lease (for example, there is already someone else in the accommodation or the accommodation does not exist at all); or

15.16.2.6.

The tenant is not able to move into the accommodation due to circumstances that were unforeseeable when the booking was

made and are not attributable (toerekenbaar) to the tenant within the meaning of article 6:75 of the Dutch Civil Code (force majeure/

overmacht), but excluding for clarity and without limitation change of plans, travel delays and illness which will remain the risk of the tenant.

But they wont give you a refund, stating :

“Dear Steven,

Thank you for you message, and we are sorry for your unpleasant experience.

At the moment, according to our Terms and Conditions you are not eligible for a refund. Additionally, you still have the opportunity to move-in. We have contacted the landlord. In the listing it is also clearly stated what the move-in date is. Have you tried contacting the landlord again and have another attempt of moving-in.

Best regards,

Gabriel”

Total scam.

in december, a booking has been made throught their site for my studio. after discussion with the tenant, he wants to stay a shorter period (2 months) than what indicated in the booking syst (1 year) of housing anywhere . consequently the commission is not 444€ but much lighter . housing promised to refund but they NEVER DID ! i called approx 20 times and i'm now totally fed up ! could you please ask them to refund what should be done . also, I should be paid back on my current banking account and not by "credit" as i will probably never never work again with them -

i will add a picture of the 444€ they never credited (+444 x2 and -444 = 444€ still due to me ! they are really fooling people around !)

thanks for your help

mme fumey

I rented an apartment in Berlin through housing anywhere
The owner said that we cannot put our names on letter box because she rented it illegally, and asked I and my family to register on another apartment while staying in same apartment.
And I said to the landlord it is illegal and she asked someone in housing anywhere and I received an email from housing anywhere that do as landlord says
When I asked them it is illegal, they simply said it is between you and landlord.
Having any legal contract on housing anywhere, we (I along with my kids) were forced by landlord to move with kids one month before the agreement ends.
Ossastr. 45, 12045 Berlin this is the address

Hi

I hope you are well, based on my attachments you can see I have paid 2000 euros for an apartment in Berlin, one of your colleagues told me the money has not received yet but the bank and documents say the amount has been sent, also at the same time another guy booked the same home! And I have lost home and money at the same time and your colleagues say I have to be patient for two weeks! I heavily unhappy with your platform and I will share my experience with the whole of my friends and community.

Best regards

Mehdi Khodadadi

+[protected]

I don't know if this complaint is still valid after so many months have passed, but the main reason why I postponed writing this complaint is that I was not sure if it is worth it. But my flatmates finally encouraged me to do so. My main complaint is that the price indicated on the site and the total amount that I had to pay are strikingly different.

Firstly, after I moved in, I had to pay not only a deposit - the amount indicated on the website when booking, but also immediately pay the amount for the first month. Such terms of agreement are not specified on the website. During all those months that I lived in this apartment, I constantly had to pay more, because the landlord demanded this. At the end of December 2021, I had to pay 60 euros to be registered with the local migration agency. I was not informed about this in advance, the owner of the apartment only did it in December 2021.

Secondly, there were multiple problems with amenities. The sink in the women's bathroom didn't work and neither did the microwave. Other devices subsequently broke down instantly and were not replaced.

And at the end of February 2022, when I was already moving out, the owner of the apartment asked me to pay for the termination of the rental contract! Other tenants who moved out were also made this demand. Why are such terms not indicated here on the site? In response to my claims, the owner announced that I had already signed a contract in Italian, where I'm obliged to pay all these amounts. It all looked like a scamming and a client deceiving.

In any case, the amount that I had to pay according to the conditions on this site is very different from what I had to pay in the end. If this is not fraudulent, then it is nothing but deceiving the client. In order to pay the amount to terminate the contract, I had to pay half of my deposit for it. My flatmates were also quite unpleasantly surprised by similar demands for additional payments. Yet this account is still rated as an "excellent advertiser": https://housinganywhere.com/users/show/219027

I do not request for a refund of any sums of money. But I would like this user not to be rated as "excellent advertiser". Also, it would be very good if he would discuss with a potential client ALL the necessary expenses initially, without deception and misleading his tenants.

Housinganywhere didn't return any deservered refund to me and 95% of their advertisements are from Italian real-estate agents (Stefano & Teresa & Garbiela). The 3 persons work together in an office in "ul. Dietla 57, Krakow, Poland" while Stefano is the boss. This is a terrible agent who would steal your money and would make lease agreements that include ridiculous points that guarantee they earn maximum amount of money from you in all situations, and he doesn't respect any appointments as he can be late for any appointment with 6 or more hours. He threatens everyone who tries to reject such apartments after visiting them by law or going against GDPR and he doesn't return deserved refunds in such cases. He is the rudest impolite person I've ever seen in my life. Please serve your self and avoid these thieves.

I moved back to Hamburg after a terrible experience renting in Berlin. A massively traumatic start, considering how easy and fair HousingAnywhere's policies seemed... How wrong I was. I was charged the platform fee and a month's rent straight off, having done all the right things to mitigate the worst circumstances, I thought everything was going to be all right.

I communicated on the platform, I spoke to several staff who were fast (but curt) and then, just as they had taken my money, all the communication stopped. I had to chase and chase for any sort of answer. I wanted to cancel, due to a change of personal circumstances and moreover, having visited the building and finding it "not as described" (something which is very much in the T&Cs as a golden rule). I've tried to explain to them over the phone (apparently there is no dispute team you can reach over the phone) and this has resulted in a long email thread of accusatory messaging where they've said that as I can't provide evidence (I'm being ghosted by Katherine Hübner, the owner) I'm not entitled to a refund. They've got my messages that I've deliberately kept on the platform rather than moving any communication over email, and that still doesn't seem to be enough. I did the right thing in every instance; was fair, transparent and obliging, offering ways for them to help support my claim. These were all refused.

And it was bad as it looks in the pictures: a converted office was being put up in one of the rougher areas of Hamburg, and frankly shouldn't have been let anywhere near the site anyway. There's no vetting process, like other platforms (ie. Spotahome) and there's no adequate customer service (like Airbnb, where it's a straight up, no frills "customer is always right" experience). They've taken my money and run, simply put.

I've lost nearly 1000 Euros to this sham of a site, with its T&Cs which they seem to interpret as they please. I'm in the process of seeking legal help and have issued a chargeback but it feels unlikely that I'll ever get my money back. I don't want others to fall prey to this and want people to know that there's solidarity in this absolutely horrific experience which I've been trying to appeal for over a month now.

Please avoid this webside (better to have an rbnb). I had a bad experience with this website, the landlrod changed the conditions and obliged to sign a contract with condition the were not show up at the beginning and still housinganywhre did not care as they refused to refund me and telling me basically that thy don't care. so for the landlord, i am not entitled of the room as i did not sign the contract but still housing anywhere refuse to refunds me

I've used this service expecting to be protected by paying a fee. I've rented an apratment between 04.01.2022 and 30.04.2022. If there's any issues with the landlords, they do not give a damn. Landlord turned out to be a scammer and guess what, of course they did not help and were even saying that I didn't need to request invoices because otherwise would be too expensive for me. The landlord and this platform took my money and I only got half of the invoices. Anyone for a classe action lawsuit?

I booked a room at HousingAnywhere and I faced the issues below :

1. The advertiser asked you for a higher deposit than what was advertised

2. The kitchen is different from the one in the advertisement

3. Utilities and appliances not safe to use.

4. Cleanliness issues

5. The buildings front door handle is broken.

6. Mold odor by an unthread mold in the shower ceiling that received just a painting according to one of the tenants. There is also a liking informed. As you can see in the pictures a light-colored paint appears a darkened color

7. Unsafe Dryer vent installation with a flammate dryer vent. They are illegal by most building codes for new homes

I am requesting a cancelation inside the time permited and contacted the support but still did not any cancelation confirmation and the agency is keeping my deposit in the toatl of 2.4K.

After greetings,
I would like to express my extreme disappointment about the insurance refund. I demand a full refund of my ONE MONTH insurance deposit by this week or otherwise I'll have to take extreme measures. I sent you all the details and how the advertising agency is stalling for the refunding procedure of my insurance deposit for almost a month and half. In addition this, asking for my credit card details which is a direct felony that redeems the advertiser and housinganywhere company. I demand again a full refund of my insurance.

Thanks

Fraud. I booked an accommodation with this site. Canceled a day later but I was informed it will be up to the advertiser (property owner) to accept the cancellation.

I was later informed that the advertiser refused the cancellation. I contacted the advertiser and they said they accepted the cancellation. I requested for a refund and I was told the money is now with the advertiser; at thesame time, the advertiser has advised me to contact housinganywhere. So now housinganywhere are dealing with me fraudulently.

Either they are keeping my money or have connected me with an advertiser who cannot provide an accommodation. they've decided they will keep the money.

Hello! I used this platform this August and here what has happened: First, I booked a room and waited for 1 month for the contract to be sent. My money was taken from my account. I wrote thousands of emails and HousingAnywhere assured me that the room was successfully booked. However, before moving in they sent me an email that it was a double booking and I was left without any accommodation at all at last minute.
Be careful! After that, I found another room on their website and booked it again. The room did not correspond to the reality at all. I tried to contact the support to help me but they deleted my account and never answered. Good job.

I wrote the below email two days ago,
I did not receive any reply from the landlord or the agent.

Hi Michela,

I must warn you that you sold us the Il Fienile apartment of *** in Lamporecchio,
from 28th August, 2021 to 28th September 2021,
via https://housinganywhere.com/
please find attached pictures.

I wrote you a message two days before the rental start date, but I did not receive any reply.
I called you several times from the car,
when I could finally reach you,
you said that you sent an email with the precise address (which I could not find).

However based on the reservation ... we found the object.

The owner of *** told us, that you left an address at her, to redirect us when we arrive.
We showed her our reservation, she replied that she did not hear anything about us until a few hours earlier,
when she told you that Medioevale is fully booked, she cannot give us any apartment.

I hope, that this was a mistake, Via ***is not the same as Via ***, for sure.
I would not have paid not much as two cents for an apartment without air condition.
We spent significant time on selecting our home in Italy, with the sporting facilities, kitchen equipment, etc.
There's no microwave oven, dishwasher, not even a toaster or an electric kettle in the substituting apartment.

You did not inform us e.g. a month ago, that you have to change the house for any reason,
this way giving us an opportunity to cancel our reservation and to find another facility that can meet our expectations.

The owner of the originally selected flat said that the apartment will be empty between
11th September - 28th September.

So please arrange until the end of Tuesday (31st August) that we can move in the originally stipulated apartment at the latest on 11th September, and live there until 28th September.
This way we prove our readiness of cooperation that we accept the supplementary, (lower equipped) apartment for the first two weeks.

As I wrote you, we are ERP consultants, we came here to work...

Should you fail to organize the original apartment,
I will need to find the possible widest press, social media and legal opportunities to prevent this fraud could ever happen with anybody else in the future.

The owner of ***will also be affected,
since the reputation of her house can get corrupted during a process like this (eg. releasing the pictures of the case, etc.)

Dear HousingAnywhere,

We have not received the service we have paid for.
I would like to ask you to block the payment to Michela, until the agreement is fulfilled with the original conditions (Il Fienile apartment of ***).

Thank you,

Booking got canceled one day before the move-in day!

Those who are going to use the services of this booking website should be careful and aware!

HousingAnywhere is large in Germany, and there is a third-platform guarantee mechanism (money will not be transferred directly to the landlord but will be kept by the platform first, and will be transferred to the landlord after 48 hours after check-in). So I booked a room through Housing anywhere at the beginning of July. I paid the first month's rent to the platform, and then received the booking confirmation from both HousingAnywhere and the landlord. The booking period is from 14.08.2020 to 15.11.2020.

HOWEVER, one day before the move-in date (13.08.2020), I received the booking cancellation email! The cancellation was notified one day before the check-in, the reason for cancellation is "system problem". But from the day that I made the booking until arrival, I have been in contact with the landlord to confirm the reservation, how to pick up the key handover and other issues, giving me "system problem" as an excuse made me feel so outrageous and ridiculous...

I was already on my way to Berlin (arrived at the airport), with all my luggages, and suddenly I was told that there was no place to live... I felt shocked and absurd... I tried to confirm the situation with HousingAnywhere and the landlord. The landlord didn't reply to me. One customer specialist from HousingAnywhere replied that the room has been canceled for sure, and the platform will refund the first-month rent. However, other than that (getting back what I've paid), there are no compensations for this temporary cancellation. And due to the cancellation in such short notice, I had to book a hostel/hotel room at the last minute for almost one week so that I had some time to find accommodation. The only offer/solution HousingAnywhere can provide was asking me to book new accommodation on their website, and the customer service will help speed up the process... Wow-what a good service!

After what happened, how would I trust HousingAnywhere and book a room with them again?
This was the worst booking experience that I had so far and feels like a scam. If I knew this would happen, I will first book a short term accommodation for 2 weeks to 1 month and try to visit the place/room by myself during these days. Because my friends who live here also think the accommodation on HousingAnywhere is mostly over the price (Yes, the accommodation is expensive and hard to find in Berlin, but still not that bad as on the platform, and don't forget if you used their "good" service they will also charge 150 euro, one-time processing fee).

Last evening I went to take my everyday shower. Have been unable to, because the apartment remains cold.

On this afternoon, Tuesdady, seventeen December 2019 I was unable to get into the internet. Have not been able to get into the internet since this past afternoon.

Made repeated telephone calls, but received no answer. One telephone number I called said it was not his responsibility. Someone must be responsible.

Kindly correct this problem. My email address is [protected]@yahoo.com Please email me.

Very truly yours,
Robert B. Stynes

Please make sure you don't get lured into the scam! I booked a place with the supposedly excellent advertiser "Anne 31" and all the required information were only revealed to me after the money is deducted from my account, and it turns out that the email and phone number provided on the website is not valid, and she asked me to pay a deposit of 1000+ euros on the "Medici-living" website, and it's not functioning and I can't validate my email, so I got suspicious and asked Anne why should I pay the deposit upfront and she just ignores my questions for several times, and I searched for the housing agency online and it turns out it has terrible reputation and many people didn't get their deposit back even if they left the room in perfect condition. So I changed my mind and asked the customer service on housinganywhere for help and they didn't do anything except for convincing me that the advertiser and the housing agency is legit. When I asked about the deposit, they ignored my question again. And I saw on their condition that if you make a transaction with the housing agency their "excellent advertiser" provided, they will not take any responsibility for any potential financial loss. So I made sure to keep the chatting history with their customer service staff and requested a refund within an hour after booking, I still lost 150 euros! What a scam! Please DO NOT USE HOUSINGANYWHERE, if you prefer to to get scammed :)))