Saturday, July 30, 2011
Renting out your house? Think twice....
You may have heard about Airbnb, the startup that allows people to rent
out their homes while they are away on vacation.
In
a horror story that is now going viral online and causing a black eye
for Airbnb, a woman rented out her San Francisco Bay area apartment
through the Airbnb service. Her apartment was rented out by a mysterious
"Dj Pattrson" for a timeframe when she would be away. The renters who
were supposedly checked out through the Airbnb service methodically
destroyed her apartment and stole all her valuable belongings over the
period of a week.
Here is a snippet from the woman's
blog detailing the damage caused:
"They smashed a hole
through a locked closet door, and found the passport, cash, credit card
and grandmother’s jewelry I had hidden inside. They took my camera, my
iPod, an old laptop, and my external backup drive filled with photos,
journals… my entire life. They found my birth certificate and social
security card, which I believe they photocopied – using the
printer/copier I kindly left out for my guests’ use. They rifled through
all my drawers, wore my shoes and clothes, and left my clothing crumpled
up in a pile of wet, mildewing towels on the closet floor. They found my
coupons for Bed Bath & Beyond and used the discount, along with my
Mastercard, to shop online. Despite the heat wave, they used my
fireplace and multiple Duraflame logs to reduce mounds of stuff (my
stuff??) to ash – including, I believe, the missing set of guest sheets
I left carefully folded for their comfort. Yet they were stupid and
careless enough to leave the flue closed; dirty gray ash now covered
every surface inside."
That's not all....
"The
kitchen was a disaster – the sink piled high with filthy dishes, pots
and pans burnt out and ruined. Comet Cleanser was dumped everywhere; the
kitchen counters, wood furniture, my gorgeous new bed frame, my desk, my
printer… all were doused in powdered bleach. The death-like smell
emanating from the bathroom was frightening (and still is) and the
bathroom sink was caked with a crusty yellow substance. Various pairs of
my gloves were strewn about – leather, dishwashing and otherwise – I
imagine in a weak attempt to cover up fingerprints. Whoever these people
were, they were living large and having one hell of a time for an entire
week inside my home, unwatched, unchecked, free to do whatever
destruction they wished. And damn, did they do a lot of it."
While
all this was happening, the "renters" were sending her soothing emails
saying how they loved her apartment.
She deserves an apology and
reimbursement from Airbnb for her damages caused by relying on their
service to properly vet potential renters. Until that time, I would warn
others to not use the Airbnb service.
Read the full story here.