We’re not saying this is the way things should be, but it’s the way things are: If you’re going to use Airbnb or some other service to rent out your house like a hotel, you need to know there’s a chance that the people you let stay in your home while you’re away might also see it as nothing more than a hotel room they can mess up and leave behind.
In a lengthy Facebook blog post, a California woman recently explained her horror story with an Airbnb guest who allegedly left behind thousands of dollars in damage and — according to the homeowner — may have been running an adult business from the house.
The homeowner says she has previously rented out portions of her house in the Silicon Valley area, and when she was planning to go overseas for a month she turned to Airbnb to find a short-term tenant.
One potential guest, “Vera,” described herself as a “very quiet and clean” student who doesn’t smoke, drink, do drugs, or throw parties, and who might also possibly be interested in renting out the room on a longer-term basis.
They met, things seemed okay, and agreed to a three-month rental.
Then, while the homeowner was out of town, she says one of her housemates called to say she needed to come home right away. Vera had forgotten she was drawing a bath and gone downstairs to the kitchen.
“Some time later they heard water splashing and realized there was an issue,” writes the homeowner. The tub had overflowed and water was now running down to the floor below, over the light fixtures hanging from the ceiling.
Vera had apparently not just flooded the bathroom and caused a bit of a mess, according to the homeowner, who says she had to hire professionals to dry out her house, tearing up carpet, flooring, and knocking holes in the walls.
“They removed the doors from many of the rooms and closets,” she writes. “They removed the downstairs toilet. They may need to break the brand new tiles… in the upstairs bathroom if they are unable to get the floor to dry.”
She posted this video on YouTube of the aftermath:
In an interview with CBS San Francisco, the homeowner says the damage totaled up to around $25,000. Her insurance will cover most of the cost, but she’s not terribly thrilled at the way Airbnb has responded to her concerns about the lack of verification and the possibility that Vera might have been shooting erotic content in her home.
When the homeowner returned to survey the damage, she entered Vera’s room and noticed a number of things that set off her something’s-wrong-dar.
“I noticed that there was a handbag with only condoms in it,” she tells CBS, but her blog post includes more explicit details, like the sex toy left out in the open. Those alone may be found in the private rooms of countless women and aren’t really evidence of any illicit business.
However, the homeowner also found what appears to be a checklist of photos or videos that Vera needed to shoot, like “Masturbating Vid,” “Bent Over Ass/White Thigh Highs,” and… “Calculator.”
When the homeowner raised her concerns to Airbnb about the possibility of her house being used to shoot porn, she says the rep told her, “Oh, she’s not verified,” even though Vera’s profile had said “verified” under her phone number and email.
No, explained the rep, there is an opt-in setting for Airbnb hosts where they can require guests go through a verification process.
Interestingly, after the homeowner changed her settings to require the verification, she got another request to rent this room. Under the guest’s photo on the reservation request, it says “2 verifications,” but when the homeowner clicked to get more information, it shows that the only thing verified were the guest’s phone number and email address.
“[B]y not requiring these verifications Airbnb will become an even bigger hotspot for people who have poor credit, bad references, off-personalities and have just a credit card number and a friendly photo to use from somewhere,” writes the homeowner. “And letting random strangers into your home is a very big risk. And by not requiring and or making it clear that users are NOT verified they are passing that risk onto their hosts. Which to me seems like an unethical decision for monetary gains and growth.”
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