How should I deal with/rate guest who left illegal drugs and paraphernalia.

[Michael5992]

So this was a first for me….I had a guest check out this morning and had notified me they broke a picture hanging on the wall, so I decided to check the residence as soon as they left.  Upon arrival and inspection I found a bag(dob kit style)  that I’m assuming was accidentally left behind.  Upon opening the bag, I found a baggie with remnants of marijuana as well as a meth pipe and amphetamines and narcotics.  I notified the local authorities and handed the items over to them.  My dilemma ( or at least I think) is that aside from the broken picture frame, everything else was in good order, cleaned up and ready to be flipped.   I’m not sure how to respond on the review….on the one hand, I feel like this could be bad situation waiting to happen and on the other hand, they seemed nice when I spoke to them and appeared to respect everything else about the property.  

do I give them a bad review or do I provide a so-so review and then provide private feedback to the guest?   

[Sarah977]

@Michael5992  Why would you give them a bad review? They were pleasant to you, they left the place clean, it doesn't seem like they tried to sneak in extra people or pets, nor did they damage anything. 

A review is meant to address the guests' stay at your place. Their personal penchants for drugs, alcohol, kinky sex, whatever, is really none of your business and has no place in a review unless it resulted in them disrespecting you or the property. Hosts aren't lifestyle police.

I wouldn't even know what meth looks like, but I've had guests leave drug paraphernalia before and I just threw it in the garbage- it would never have occurred to me to hand it over to the authorities.

And if you mention drugs in the review, that will be grounds for review removal.

[Anonymous]

@Michael5992   The Dopp kit was left on your private property, so it wasn't necessarily wrong to go looking through it (any more than it would be for someone on staff to go rifling through your purse or suitcase if you left it behind at a hotel). 

But your review should be an account of what you experienced as a host - not what conclusions you drew about the guest's character after peeking into their personal baggage. I'd suggest submitting the review that you would have written if you hadn't gone and opened that bag. @Sarah977  is right, any mention of drugs would get the review removed anyway, so it wouldn't benefit future hosts in any way to make a point of that. The guests were even thoughtful enough to report the damage, which is exceedingly rare these days - that sounds worthy of a very positive review.

[Brian2036]

@Anonymous 

The issue is not the guest’s character.

It is the guest’s violations of house rules and Airbnb policy, as well as his careless disregard for the host and his property.

If we’re going to ignore illegal drugs, why not child pornography, endangered species products, or homemade explosives?

That guest ought to be panicking right about now, but I’m willing to bet that he just shrugged it off, bought another pipe, and scored a couple of grams of meth to console himself.

 I don’t want trash like that in my house and I think he deserves a terse 1-star review.

Perhaps, “Guest abandoned items in the rental which caused the host significant distress and liability?” No further explanation required.

[Anonymous]

@Brian2036   Fascinating story, but this is a completely different kind of situation. All of the paraphernalia found by the host was inside the guest's personal bag. It's not even evident that any of it was consumed inside the home. 

[Brian2036]

@Anonymous 

You’re talking about “reasonable expectation of privacy.”

Contraband left in plain view is subject to seizure without notice.

Items concealed within containers are safe only as long as they are in the owner’s home or vehicle.

Once the guest has checked out the host owns it, has both the right and responsibility to investigate it, and can be held responsible for the possession of it.

I’m not sure that you are aware of the current state of affairs in the United States, particularly in the south, at the moment.

Police forces are subsidizing themselves through fines and property seizures related to alleged drug offenses. As the fraudulent “War on Drugs” appears to be lost, authorities are panicking about the loss of revenue.

I’m sure the County would love to have an excuse to seize my real estate, vehicles and bank accounts. The total would just about cover what has mysteriously disappeared from the county’s treasury over the past couple of years.

Any kind of illicit activity on my property represents a significant risk to my health, safety and liberty for what few years I have left to live, I deeply resent it, and I would be ruthless when it comes to punishing offenders.

[Michael5992]

Appreciate everyone’s perspective.  I did learn today after a thorough walk through that items were stolen in addition to the broken picture they notified me about.  I spoke to Airbnb customer service about the drugs and they hold the same perspective as I do and have blocked the guests account from further bookings.  My review will be carefully worded and constructive without fallacy.   

[Brian2036]

@Michael5992 

Excellent! A definite win for you and the rest of us.

Methamphetamine is commonly manufactured, distributed and consumed throughout Arkansas and it is common knowledge that addicts will steal anything they can get their hands on when they start feeling twitchy.

 I do not want anyone like that on my property.

[Anonymous]

@Michael5992  Bear in mind, if a negative review tips over into defamation (e.g. accusing the guest of a crime), Airbnb tends to remove it. The would include any direct mention of theft, or an even indirect mention of drugs.

You can say that several items were missing from the home after checkout. You can say that, despite positive early communication, this person has lost your trust and would not choose to host them again. That gives hosts plenty to go on, in the unlikely event that this person tries to book another home with the same user profile. 

[Christine608]

Hello @Michael5992  and everyone. I had a similar experience recently. I rented my apartment for New Year's and ask the guest not to be late for check out since there was another guest checking in that same day. The guest got late and left a real mess behind. I found some meth forgotten by him. I wasn't thinking about reporting the police but I found necessary to report Airbnb support. 
Didn't know what kind of review I should write, of course the drug issue wouldn't be mentioned. Glad I found this discussion, now at least I have an idea.
To clean all the mess it took so long that I missed the check inn time of the next guest. Luckily, she decided to postponed her stay a few days.

I really don't mind people using drugs, what bothers me are careless guests leaving illegal stuff in my apartment. What if the next guest finds the drug, assume it belongs to me and report to authority?
Good to know Airbnb blocked the guest account. I hope they do the same in my case.

[Sarah977]

@Christine608  If you clean properly between guests, how would the following guests "find" drugs left behind by the previous guests?