Smoking marijuana at house

[Mary801]

I have a question out of curiosity. We had a guest rent out our entire house several months ago. We have security cameras with motion detectors that I don't generally check, but one night around 3 am, I started receiving notificaton after notification..So I decided to check and see what was going on. Turns out, the guest was attending a wedding and had thrown the after-wedding party at our house (probably about 18 people in 1500 square feet they have access to! Many of them were outside though). Tons of yelling, about 8 cars in our driveway and whatnot at 3 am in our very quiet neighborhood. The house looked like a frat party had taken place after returning...These kids even drew penises on our pillows you can draw on!...So odd, but okay. 

Anyways...the BIG problem I had was that, after looking at the videos from 3 am, I noticed a group of about 7 standing in the area the floodlights shine down on smoking marijuana. I also live in a state where that is illegal. I called AirBnB and they told me to just include that in the review, but there was really nothing they could do. My question is, wouldn't that leave me responsible if police had come to the house (which wouldn't be surprising with all the yelling/noise)? They didn't..But just wondering. We also found the leftovers of the joints in our front yard. Also, has anyone had an experience similar to this? What did you do?

[Mary801]

I should probably also add that I found out some of these kids who were drinking at our home were under 21..Including the individual who actually rented the home. It doesn't help that after returning, we found a bottle of vodka we had stored in our pantry was missing. Would I be held responsible for this?  

[Mike340]

@Mary801

" wouldn't that leave me responsible if police had come to the house"....why? 

Is a hotel responsible for a guest smoking pot, o drinking alcohol whilst underage , in a hotel room? 

Those people are adults and are responsible for their own actions, both legal or illegal.

Your place no doubt wasnt the first where some guests smoked marijuana or drank alcohol underage, and no doubt will not be the last.

Smoking  marijuana or under age drinking, in a private residence would not be top of the police priorties, I would not imagine, unless a person then caused a disturbance, drove a vehicle while high or drunk or did some other illegal activity as a consequence of using the marijuana or drinking.

"We found a bottle of vodka we had stored in our pantry was missing "

well,that is theft ...although difficult to prove ...I would not have alcohol out in the house...lock it all away

You no doubt put in your house rules that undertaking illegal activities are not permitted

I cant see you being responsible unless you provided the marijuana and/or alcohol

[Linda108]

It appears you are new to renting the whole house which is also a primary residence, right, @Mary801?  Perhaps you need to add to your rules about no smoking or vaping cigarettes and marijuana.  Also, you need to add a rule which does not allow non-registered guests at anytime.  You should disclose the existence of the motion sensor cameras.  When you receive information about rule breaking, you would message the booking guest via Air BNB message system that you are aware of the infraction of the rules.

If the police had come were you close enough to come to the house?  In my city, there must be a local responsible person to respond and resolve any complaint within 45 minutes or the registration of the rental will be suspended.  You might want to check about your responsibility in your city/state with respect to the use of your place for illegal activity as it may differ from what @Mike340 believes.  Some states hold the owner responsible for illegal activity in their rental with confiscation a possible outcome.  Usually that would be a long term rental, but might apply for short term rental, especially since you had knowledge of the illegal activity.

[Paul154]

You are not responsible for criminal actions by others.  But do to cover your bases.

Follow all the suggestions by @Linda108. Get everything in writing. Make it obvious that you do not condone illegal activity by being proactive when it happens.