A Calgary family’s home is in ruins after it was rented out last weekend through an online accommodation rental company.
(Video: The aftermath of Calgary's Airbnb nightmare)
Mark and Star King listed their Sage Hill home for rent on Airbnb to help build up their equity and were contacted by a someone who said they wanted the home from Saturday to Tuesday for four people coming for a wedding, CTV Calgary reported.
But within hours of handing over the keys, the trouble started.
“The neighbours report a party bus and upwards of 100 people in our house and after two days of this, we were unaware, finally a neighbour texts me,” Mark said.
He called the police and then went to the home to see what was going on.
“The police were here before we got here,” Mark said. “They had been here seven times, with no co-operation from the people that were in here that had had a party for two nights and all day in between.”
When Star knocked on the door, a woman answered. “I literally begged the girl, ‘Would you please come out and talk to us, we’re not upset at you, if you would just please open the door,’ ” said Star. “I just wanted them to leave.”
About an hour later, about 15 to 20 people left in taxis. The Kings then went into their home.
“We were almost knocked over by the fumes, the smell … I mean this is our home, this is our sanctuary, we’ve got a five-year-old and a one-year-old and the sense of violation, the lie that was told, and the trust that I had in somebody and this happens, it was just beyond my imagination,” said Mark.
“When we came in, one of the police said this isn’t a party, this was a drug-induced orgy.”
The Kings can’t live in it and have been told they need a hazardous materials team to clear it out. “We don’t want to touch anything. We can’t sleep in these beds again, we can’t walk on these carpets in bare feet, ever again.
“There’s broken glass everywhere, there’s barbecue sauce on the ceiling, there’s mayonnaise covering our sofa cushions that are piled on the couch, piles of garbage, the floor has a film of all sorts of fluid and guck. Everything’s contaminated.”
The Kings say Airbnb has been very co-operative and that the company has a $1-million fund to take care of damage at host properties.
The family is staying at Mark’s parent’s house and say Airbnb has also offered another home for them to use until things get sorted out.
Constable Attila Horvath estimates damage at up to $75,000. “I couldn’t believe that somebody could do that in three days, to another person’s home,” he said.
Police say whoever is responsible could face a charge of mischief to property over $5,000.