BEEN HOSTING VACATION RENTALS 30 YEARS- GUESTS JUST DESTROYED OUR HOME - WHAT NEXT?

[NewOrleans0]

Has any other host experienced this level of damage and if so, what did you do?  I am certain this guest will cancel their credit card.

This is recap I sent to Airbnb after the guests turned down the first step I was made to do which is ask them for reiumbursement.  THey are claming it is not true, but it is!

LETTER TO AIRBNB:

The guest was supposed to tell us when they were leaving so we could meet them there to perform a walk through and inspection.  They did not call so we went to the property. We have been leasing out vacation rentals for 30 years and never seen this level of destruction before.  We have been a host with airbnb for years as well and never requested anything due to normal wear and tear. 

A. They DESTROYED OUR HOME, URINATED ON THE FLOOR OF THE HOME and URINATED ON THE FRONT PORCH WHILE EXPOSING THEIR **bleep** TO THE ELDERLY NEIGHBOR. SHE IS WILLING TO BE A WITNESS.

B. They BROKE THE iNDECENT EXPOSURE LAW -
- THEY EXPOSED THEIR **bleep** WHILE URINATING ON THE FRONT PORCH OF THE HOUSE OUTSIDE.  WHEN THE NEIGHBOR ASKED THEM TO STOP THEY LOOKED THIS ELDERLY LADY IN THE EYE, SHOWED HER THEIR **bleep** AND THEN FLIPPED HER OFF . As you may know, in LA this is considered INDECENT EXPOSURE IN THE SECOND DEGREE AND IS A CLASS B MISDEMEANOR.. This was at 5am the morning they were leaving.  She called us and as soon as I talked to her is when we went over there and found everything I am recapping above and below. 

C. THEY BROKE OCCUPANCY LAWS PER AIRBNB POLICY, OUR POLICY ON AIRBNB AND THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS - THEY HAD SIXTEEEN (16) PEOPLE STAYING IN THE HOME.  Not just visiting, but actually residing the entire time. WE HAVE NEIGHBORS THAT WERE WITNESS TO THIS NUMBER of people and cars lined up. Per city of New Orleans, Short-term rental guests in residentially zoned properties are limited to six people per home and two people per bedroom. That number was previously 10, with two to each bedroom.

D. THEY BROKE NOISE ORDANCE LAWS - the nieghboors, who have in the past been supportive of airbnb, let us know after they had skipped out on us and not checked out properly, that BOTH nights they were there there was 16 people in the home and outside fighting, wrestling and being very loud.  Per this law and ordiance (see link), we could have been fined. see this ordance...


I have pictures and video of this DESTRUCTION AND DAMAGE, WHICH IS AT THE LEVEL OF BEING A FELONY.

I HAVE HAD TO TAKE THIS LISTING OFF THE MARKET BECAUSE WE HAVE TO REPLACE DESTROYED FURNITURE AND GET SPECIALIZED HOUSEKEEPERS IN THE HOME BECAUSE THERE IS HUMAN WASTE ON THE FLOOR.

I put in a request for them to pay us for the damage and they declined. 

They destroyed the following and we have pictures as we will have REPLACE AS THESE ARE BEYOND REPAIR -

1.  kitchen table
2. the cocktail table
3. wooden blinds throughout the entire home are broken beyond repair
4. Satellite disc outside broken
5. Throw pillow on coach has ketchup stains all over them and stains can't be removed
4. the wooden floors need a specialized cleaning because or the HUMAN WASTE left on them and scratches
5. Outside Table broken
7. Toilet paper holder totally missing from master bedroom

 I HAVE PICTURES AND VIDEO for all of above

In ADDITION to above, will try and REPAIR THESE ITEMS but we are not sure they can be repaired. If not, they have to be replaced:

1. 3 different chairs have HUGE guages in the wooden base
2.. the coach has stains and we will have to get professional cleaning done
3. scratches on 2 doors
4. scratches and stains to EVERY SINGLE WALL IN EVERY SINGLE ROOM

 I HAVE PICTURES AND VIDEO for all of above

IN ADDITION TO ALL OF THE ABOVE, I will have to hire contractor and labor to help us with the following:

1. reinstall blinds after new ones are purchased
2. They took framed valuable paintings off the wall - we have to restring the back and get them put back up
3. They removed hanging mirrors from 2 bedrooms off the wall - we have to put this back up on the walls
4. Specialized housekeepers that deal with human waste because they urinated on the floor in every single room - including kitchen
5. Deep cleaning housekeeping to deal with all the stains all OVER THE WALLS of EVERY SINGLE room, the human waste on the floors in every single room, the filth and clean up of left items that are unsanitary.
6. Special services to clean the wooden floors and the house has soo much sticky substance and staining of the floors we are going to hire contractors to clean these VERY NEW WOODEN FLOORS

Besides all of the above, I want them to be charged for the extra guests that stayed at the house per our policy and profile with Airbnb.  THERE WAS 16 PEOPLE TOTAL STAYING IN THE HOME. THEIR RESERVATION SAID 3 PEOPLE WERE STAYING.  Please charge them for the extra 13  people - which also violates local occupancy laws.

Please let me know what you need to proceed.  I also am officially requesting that we talk to  someone IN A MANAGERIAL ROLE within Airbnb about this as we have been guests for years and been in the hospitality industry for 30 years. I submitted a request for money but I want your organization to know THEY URINATED ALL OVER THE HOUSE and they EXPOSED THEIR **bleep** TO OUR NEIGHBORS AND FLIPPED THEM OFF WHEN THEY ASKED THEM TO PUT THEIR CLOTHES ON.




We feel unprotected, violated and very concerned if they are ever allowed to walk into another one your hostsproperty!

I can be reached at

[Ben551]

@NewOrleans0  That sounds truly awful. I’m so sorry this has happened to you. Do you have an active claim with Airbnb under the host guarantee for your damages?

If the guests are denyng it, I recommend you search their names on the Airbnb Guests Blacklist Facebook group. You may find if they have done this to you they may have done it to someone else. Remember to search for both first and last name separately because these types of guests use aliases most of the time.

I hope you have a good case manager working on this from Airbnb.

[Olga464]

@NewOrleans0  I make my guests sign additonal 4 pages paper (the content is also represented in my ad). I include there the price of any single thing. Many hate me for this. But no accidents by far. I come from 15 years experience of renting living spaces to international police workers and diplomats on a long term.

[Helen3]

Hello @NewOrleans0 

I am truly sorry this happened to you, it sounds beyond dreadful.

I am not clear from your post when you say you have contacted Airbnb, did you do this  through the Resolution Centre as they suggest. If not,  here is a link https://www.airbnb.co.uk/resolutions 

My other advice is to also put in a claim for on your home insurance, so they can  work with Airbnb regarding your claim. There are areas that Airbnb don't cover, so hopefully your specialist home insurance for STRs will be able to cover some of these.

Please do leave an honest review to help protect future hosts.  - 1 star across the board mention the damage and the people staying who hadn't booked, thumbs down. DO NOT mention your claim or this will be grounds for the review to be removed,.

One thing I was rather puzzled about in your post was ,  that you didn't seem to have CCTV or other camera system outside your property,  or you would have spotted that many more guests were staying at your property than had booked.

I know you are a much more experienced host than I am, but this would have given you video evidence to help back up your claim as well as helping you evict these awful guests before they had a chance to stay and create such damage.

Too late for this time, I know , but something to consider going forward when you have recovered from this awful situation.

I do hope you are able to make a successful claim, do let us know how it goes if you can as it will be invaluable for other hosts to help understand Airbnb's guarantee process.

[Susie111]

@NewOrleans0 

So sorry this happend to you, it's every hosts nightmare.

What about contact the local news media or Twitter and tell them your story.

Hopefully that will get Airbnb attention.

I don't know but someone recently told me the "1 million dollar host" guarantee is impossible to

actually claim, apperently just a marketing ploy....

[Lisa723]

@NewOrleans0 you will need to submit professional receipts or bids for every repair or replacement, and photos. I have succesfully claimed damage reimbursement, but not for this amount. They will not reimburse you for indecent exposure and noise, as these are intangible damages. In your place I might try to make my correspondence more concise and less emotional. Repeating things several times and including commentary that is not directly supporting your claim for monetary damages probably won't help, and neither will "shouting" in all caps. Like @Helen3 I hope you will leave (or have left) an accurate review.