An Airbnb squatter who's stopped paying and refuses to leave a Palm Springs condo after an initial 44-day rental period has made his first public comment since the ordeal made national headlines.
"Ok guys, what's the latest deets on the drama? 10/10 would squat again," Maksym Pashanin, the suspected squatter, wrote in an unrepentant response to someone who confronted him online,
Mashable.com reported.
Last week,
ABC affiliate KESQ reported that Pashanin's username on Airbnb matched a username on a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, and soon after commenters began barraging him with questions, asking him if he was the same man accused of squatting. After the strident response, it appears he likely is.
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The trouble began when the condo's owner, Cory Tschogl, a therapist who works with blind veterans, rented out the condo on Airbnb.com. Everything seemed fine until the rental period ended, and Pashanin refused to leave.
Tschogl threatened to have the electricity shut off in an effort to force him out, but he told her that under California law, he was legally a month-to-month tenant since he'd rented there more than 30 days. Tschogl described the situation as a "nightmare" and said she's now working with a lawyer to try to evict him.
In addition to being accused of non-payment of rent and refusal to vacate, many who've donated to Pashanin's Kickstarter say they've been scammed too. Over 2,000 backers have donated nearly $40,000 to help Pashanin develop a zombie-shooting video game, but the development of that game has been delayed, with Pashanin recently telling a videogame website that he's recently made some bad business decisions, but that the game would still be released, eventually.
The identity of the Airbnb squatter hasn't been confirmed beyond the shadow of a doubt, but neighbors report that the man living in the condo looks just like Maksym Pashanin as he appears in a video promoting the zombie game. They said his brother is also living there.
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