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Airbnb burglary

post #1 of 12
8/2/11 at 11:26pm
Thread Starter 

Women rents her place out via airbnb; arrives home to find it ransacked.

Quote:
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.

 

http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/27/the-moment-of-truth-for-airbnb-as-users-home-is-utterly-trashed/

 

Original blog: http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html

 

lefty

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post #2 of 12
8/3/11 at 12:13am
i read this the other day too. never heard of the site before that. not sure what anyone who rents out their house for 1-2 days really expects. the risk is massive for little reward. seems the only ppl who would do such a thing are brainless hipsters / techtards

as an economist, it does have some appeal to me but you would have to have your home on lockdown for it to make sense
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post #3 of 12
8/3/11 at 12:42am
So she let her place to a complete stranger, that she had never met or knew anything about?

Was she born yesterday or something?

Things like multiple character references and large security deposits?
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post #4 of 12
8/3/11 at 2:43am

Renting a place out is one thing, but who the hell leaves every important document and possession in the house you're renting out? And "Whoever these people were"? I don't get the policy of not alloying the owners to know the identity of the renters . I really don't see the appeal of this service compared the the thousands of others

 

Also, love them or hate them, if you set the dogs of anon on these guys, I bet you they'd have names and accounts/information for everyone involved within a week. Just a thought


Edited by KitAkira - 8/3/11 at 2:55am
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post #5 of 12
8/3/11 at 3:31am
A few comments about the Techcrunch story:

"Until now everything has been just great for Airbnb, a service that lets people rent out their homes and become a sort of mini-hotel."

So one is entering into the hospitality industry, and turning one's private dwelling into a sort of hotel, hostel, guesthouse or bed'n'breakfast. Surely there are major legal considerations here, like licensing, planning permissions, change of use, fire regulations, public safety and liability, food safety, etc.?

"Airbnb’s response has been diplomatic but tepid.

We’ve created a marketplace built on trust, transparency and authenticity within our community,..."

Welcome to fairyland...meanwhile in the real world....

Ebay and Taobao where built on similar principles, and they're full of counterfeits, knock-offs and other nefarious things.
Edited by MikeDT - 8/3/11 at 3:50am
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post #6 of 12
8/3/11 at 5:59am

Actually, since she said it was an apartment, I wonder what the building manager/company's take on this is. If there's a no subletting clause, couldn't they kick her out and seek damages? Not a particularly pleasant thought for her

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post #7 of 12
8/3/11 at 8:41am
I've used this site 9 times now to rent out very nice large houses in cities (mostly LA) with amazing results. For $300 a night i'm getting (literally) a near-mansion and i've yet to get burned in any way.
Doing it again this weekend for a week but this time just a one-bedroom loft.

EDIT: I would NEVER rent my place out, too much risk.
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post #8 of 12
8/3/11 at 8:50am
I have no idea where this occurred but if anyone does this be sure to check your homeowner's insurance policy. I would not at all be surprised to see some cheap insurance company try to disclaim payment for the damage based on some kind of "home business" exemption.

I know people are trying to do what they can in this crappy economy to make ends meet, but seriously you have to weigh the risks and rewards of behaviours like this.
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post #9 of 12
8/8/11 at 3:56am
First rule of letting your place out: never leave anything valuable inside for the tenants to steal.
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post #10 of 12
8/8/11 at 6:03am
My parents owned a hotel so i know first-hand what disgusting untrustworthy pigs people are. Sometimes you're really surprised at the people that behave horribly, but more often than not you come to expect it from certain types of people.
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post #11 of 12
8/8/11 at 7:13am
A lot of blame the victim going on here. Do you blame the woman for dressing sluttily if she gets raped?
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post #12 of 12
8/8/11 at 7:23am
The thieves/destroyers are certainly at fault here, but renting out your apartment is always risky.

I think the analogy to rape is a bit misleading. Women are raped simply for being women, but no one has to invite total strangers into one's home to make money.
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