Netflix executive rents out $1.8M LA home to millionaire musician 'who turned it into $1,200-a-night illegal Airbnb while refusing to pay his rent

A Netflix executive made the mistake of renting her $1.8 million Los Angeles home to a musician who then allegedly illegally turned it into an Airbnb and stopped paying rent. 

Nikeeta Sriram, 31, works as a commerce strategy and growth product executive at Netflix having graduated from Harvard Business School a few years ago.

She moved to Los Angeles to take on the job in 2021, and took advantage of low housing prices during the pandemic in 2022 by buying a home in the sought-after Mid-Wilshire area for $1.675million. It is now worth over $1.8m. 

However, Sriram was already tied in a lease at the time and decided to rent out her new property until she was ready to move in, she told the LA Times. 

The homeowner says she has now become wrapped up in a never-ending ordeal with her nightmare tenant, a touring musician currently singing in British pubs. She says he has turned the rental into a money-making Airbnb scheme that raked in over $215,000, while recently refusing to pay her rent 

Nikeeta Sriram, 31, works as a commerce strategy and growth product executive at Netflix having graduated from Harvard Business School a few years ago

Nicholas Jarzabek, better known to his fans as Nick Driver, is a touring musician currently singing in British pubs (pictured)

Nicholas Jarzabek, better known to his fans as Nick Driver, was initially denied when he applied to rent Sriram's property as she opted for another pair of men who worked for a start-up.

However, when the company failed in August 2022, the pair moved out and Sriram was once again on the hunt for a renter. Jarzabek applied again - and Sriram recognized the name from his initial bid to rent the property. 

'I didn't think anything of it at the time. I figured he just really liked the house,' Sriram told The LA Times. 

'But it's obviously suspicious in hindsight,' she said. 'Most renters are trying to move on a specific timeline, and you don't see people applying for the same house three months apart.' 

At first glance, Jarzabek came across as a reliable tenant - with $1million in the bank, a white Tesla and shiny Rolex on his wrist. 

'He talked about the house nicely and offered to put rugs down so he wouldn't scratch the floors,' Sriram said. 'He said he'd treat it like it was his own.' 

And he did treat it like it was his own. It soon became clear that Jarzabek had set his sights on Sriram's house because it was the perfect candidate for a successful Airbnb.

Sriram took advantage of low housing prices during the pandemic in 2022 by buying a home (pictured) in the sought-after Mid-Wilshire area for $1.675million. The house, pictured, is now worth $1.8 million

Nicholas Jarzabek, better known to his fans as Nick Driver, allegedly turned the Los Angeles home he was renting into an Airbnb and pocketed the income from the listings

The property had two homes, which meant two Airbnbs for the price of one. There was a two-story, three-bedroom main house and a one-bedroom back house with a loft. 

After the walk-through tour of the home, Sriram never saw Jarzabek again - but she claims he eventually became a very prominent pest in her daily life. 

For the first year of his tenancy, Jarzabek caused little trouble. He paid the $8,500 rent every month and didn't demand repairs.

'He seemed like a very responsible tenant, but now I know it's because he wanted me to never come to the property,' Sriram said. 

However, 16 months down the line Jarzabek's Airbnb listings of the property were exposed on December 29, 2023, when the ADT alarm was triggered so many times in a row that the police were automatically called to the property. 

Sriram called ADT and they told her that the police notified them that Airbnb guests had triggered the alarm. 

At first Sriram and her boyfriend, actor Peter Banachowski, thought that there was a mix-up, but upon checking Airbnb she saw her property on offer. 

The main house was listed for $688 per night, while the back house was listed for $496 per night, according to Airbnb listings in the eviction lawsuit she later filed. 

It was listed on Airbnb under an account named Rich Jacobs - though it's unclear whether that name is an alias or whether Jarzabek contacted someone to act as a 'host' for the property on his behalf. 

The host disguised the home to keep it hidden from Sriram, firstly by not using any exterior pictures - only uploading a picture of the nearby Grove shopping mall followed by snaps of the house's interiors.

Next, by providing a fake address to Airbnb users, initially telling them that the property was at 1830 S. La Brea Ave, which is actually the address for a motel called the Starlight Inn which is a mile away from the house.

The houses did well on Airbnb, with the larger home earning 4.76 stars out of five and the guest house scoring a 4.46. 

However, written reviews of the home raised concerns. 'Easy to find once the correct address was found, Air BNB listed a different address than [was sent] by the owner,' one renter said. 

'The host adopted a very nasty and aggressive tone with us when we had difficulty learning how to cancel on your website,' said another guest 

After learning of Jarzabek's scheme, Sriram tried to confront her tenant over the phone. He told her to contact his lawyer.

At first glance, Jarzabek came across as a reliable tenant - with $1million in the bank, a white Tesla and shiny Rolex

Taking matters into her own hands, Sriram set out a plan to confront him in person by renting out the Airbnb for herself so that she could communicate with him via the website's chat function. 

'STOP RELISTING THIS PROPERTY. You are not authorized to sublease this property!' she wrote. 

As the drama continued and the houses were taken off Airbnb and then re-listed, Sriram filed for an eviction through the L.A. Superior Court. In April, she filed a cease and desist to Jarzabek's attorney.

But while Sriram struggles to navigate through the complicated laws of property rights, her house continues to be rented out on Airbnb.

Airbnb didn't offer any help to Sriram - so she once again took matters into her own hands by showing up to the property whenever it appeared to have bookings (information she gathered through the website directly). 

She would explain the situation to the guests, who were mostly understanding but naturally frustrated by the situation. 

'I felt terrible. I didn't want to ruin their vacations,' Sriram said. 'But this is our only recourse since Airbnb provided no help to us.' 

As part of her eviction lawsuit, Sriram subpoenaed Airbnb for information on Jarzabek. She discovered that, although he communicated with her using a New York area code, the number registered to his Airbnb account had a +44 code, which is the area code for the United Kingdom.

She also gained insight on his profits through the subpoena, and learned that over 16 months of his Airbnb stint, the listing generated $215,954 in payouts, which is an average of around $14,500 a month.

'If the city can't figure out how to crack down on Airbnb, it should err on the side of caution and ban the platform until it can build a task force to manage it,' Sriram said. 'The current solution is to let havoc ensue and see what happens.' 

After spending months fighting legal battles, Sriram finally had her unlawful detainer lawsuit approved recently - which allows her to move forward with evicting Jarzabek. 

This can only be carried out by a sheriff, and the LA County Sheriff's department is currently backed up with eviction requests and have a three month wait.

Sriram and Banachowski could sue Jarzabek for damages, given that the homeowners estimates she has lost $100,000 since the beginning of the year, but suing someone in a different country is a complex and expensive process.  

'Nick Diver,' as Jarzabek is known by in the music world, has around 6,000 followers on Instagram and 785 followers on popular music streaming platform Spotify

'His Instagram shows that he has tour dates in pubs across the U.K.,' Banachowski said. 'I understand why we have eviction protections for people in L.A., but why is it illegal for us to get our house back from a guy who's not even in the country?'

'Nick Diver,' as Jarzabek is known by in the music world, has around 6,000 followers on Instagram and 785 followers on popular music streaming platform Spotify. 

His most recent album, Black Liquorice, was released in 2023 and features a song ironically titled 'Life of Crime,' as well as others including 'Terrifying Me' and 'I Pretend to Know Too Much.'

Jarzabeck's recent Instagram posts show him gallivanting about in London and Paris - all the while he continues to rent out Sriram's home on Airbnb and ghost her attemps of communication. 

DailyMail.com reached out to Jarzabek for comment on his social media, and are yet to hear from the musician.