The brothers, who rented the one-bedroom unit in late May for 44 days but paid for just a month, gained tenants' protections under California law after occupying the unit for 30 days.
Maksym Pashanin sent Tschogl texts threatening to press charges against her for blackmail, negligence and malicious misconduct, including his claims that the tap water hurt his expensive espresso machine and exacerbated his brother's ulcer, she said, providing copies of the messages.
Maksym Pashanin and Denys Pashanin are the principals behind Kilobite Inc., which took to Kickstarter in November to promise a June delivery of a zombie game called "Confederate Express," but has produced only a demo.
Instead, Kilobite recently launched a new Kickstarter campaign, seeking $25,000 for another game called "Knuckle Club." Maksym Pashanin apologized to increasingly irate backers in Kickstarter comments. "We are working tirelessly every single day to make the deadlines," he wrote.
"Legal experts said the brothers' evident knack for exploiting loopholes at Airbnb and Kickstarter reflects the Wild West nature of new marketplaces."
It really is disappointing to see people appearing to exploit the law like this (not saying they are), but it's bound to happen, especially in America where people love to sue and use legal loopholes. The important thing is to thrust them into the public light and make it so that when you google their name, it's easy to see their reputation and whether or not you'd want to do business with them or accept them as customers.
Thoughts?
