what do I do after my House trashed by a minor guest

[Malalai0]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share my story and ask for some advice. 

The guest approached me by saying he want to throw a party around 30 people. He normally do this at home but there's guest at his home. He said they are all responsible and will take care of the house. I accepted him with a special offer and with additional rules. Before leaving the house to the guest, I took a video of the house. When the guest arrived, he told me he checked-in and told me the place was lovely and he will make sure the house is as clean as now. The disaster started the next morning. When I got to the house, an hour earlier than the check-out time, I saw lots of beer cans outside and trash was all over the entrance. I went into the basement, which the guest are not allowed to go and I saw the bathroom mosquito net in my yard. I knew things didn't went well inside the rented place. I didn't wait until the check-out time, I went in the house. The house was completely destroyed.

I was so shocked, tears started to come out and I couldn't even make a sound. 

The guest sent a message saying: I have bad news for you. I'm sorry, but some uninvited boys came and trashed the party and the place. There's some serious damage. I tried to stop them but I couldn't so I called the police. The police came too late, everything was already broken. The police filed a report. We can meet at your place or you can call me anytime.

He left his phone number. Before calling him, I called Airbnb Resolution center. At first, they didn't take me seriously. I told them the house is completely destroyed, there's no more wall, everything is upside down and broken. They told me to take photos and send them with the claim. I estimated 20 000$ but at the end I couldn't submit the claim, there was a maximum of 13 000$. I called them and told them that I can't submit because it won't let me. Then the person on the line was really nice, she told me to try and send it directly in a message. When she saw the first 2 pictures, she couldn't believe it. She immediately put me on hold and went to her superior. She came back to me saying, thanks for sending the photos, she had put my case directly in contact with the Claim department. A few hours later, I received a message that Airbnb has sent out my information to an independent adjuster to inspect the property due to the nature and extent of the damage. The adjuster from Crawford came. He saw the pictures but when he saw the house in person, he said he never saw something like this. This is a crime. It's way beyond his knowledge to estimate the cost of the damages and he will recommend Airbnb to send an building expert as well as a material good expert to estimate the cost of the damages. ( I will post some pictures)

I also called the police to sue him. This is vandalism. From what I heard from the police, is that the guest is a minor.

I hope that my situation did not happen to anyone but does anyone have some advice?  Did anyone had a good or bad experience with Host Guaranty? How can a minor book my place ? Will Airbnb sue him for this as police has evidence that he was the responsible?  Should I proceed to a civil charges? What can I do or what are the options that I have?

Thanks for all your help!!

[Malalai0]

Thanks @Robin4.

I should be more active in the community and see what's happening in the world. Since I started hosting, I was only focused on school, work and cleaning the house. You are right, if I had kept my house to for travelers, this would never have happened to me, lesson learned the hard way. Hopefully Airbnb will do the right thing. Thank you for taking the time to read and help. 

[Susan1404]

@Malalai0- I am utterly devastated for you!  While it is true that some things are learned the hard way, this was simply cruel.  I know you meant to simply be accommodating to your guest and their party.  I have to agree with @Robin4 though - no more parties!  What did surprise me was the adjuster from Crawford & Company.  I worked for Crawford & Company here in Atlanta for a very long time as an independent contractor.  I am truly flabbergasted that he took the avenue he did - it was well within his/her scope to call a contractor(s) for estimates on the repair work needed to be done.  I have a feeling Airbnb gave him a directive to simply report back to them and take no action otherwise.  I would highly suggest obtaining your own estimates from contractors (this should not involve cost to you, but ask up front before having anyone come to the apartment).  Submit them to Airbnb and demand that they reimburse you for this repair work to be performed.  Stand firm on this!  If anyone has legitimate damage claims, it is you.  Hoping the best for you...

[Malalai0]

@Susan1404 the adjuster said it was out of his scope, so he reported back to airbnb that the case will need a building expert and material goods expert to evaluate the damages. I got news from him today. He asked me to make a listing of all the material goods and estimate the price so he can get an approval from airbnb to send the experts. I'm not sure if this is normal or not... I will make a list and estimate with the best of knowlegde. Is having my own adjuster/estimator better that leaving it to airbnb's adjuster? 

Thanks for the help!

[Susan1404]

@Malalai0- very good.  It wasn't out of his scope (even if he did say so LOL).   He just didn't have Airbnb's permission at that point to call in experts to give quotes.  I will say that what he is asking you to do is pretty normal as far as adjusting is concerned.  It's a start and here is what I would do.  If you have secondary insurance on your Airbnb rental, alert them to what has happened and see if they wish to take action or not.  This way, you are not leaving them out of the process.  There is a process called subrogation and it is when two or more insurance companies are involved in a loss.  One will try to push the claim off on the other and sometimes that is successful and actually is warranted.  At any rate, definitely compile your list for his submission to Airbnb and either alert your own insurance company, or if you do not have secondary insurance, wait to see what Airbnb is willing to pay for.  If you feel the estimates fall too short of the work that is required, then you might want to call in your own contractors and obtain estimates as well.

[Malalai0]

@Susan1404  Thanks for the advice!! I will keep posting updates.

[Afua8]

Please have your own adjuster/estimator  this way if additional costs arise  airbnb would not com back and say this is estimate you provided.

[Colleen253]

@Malalai0  I'm so sorry, this is extreme. I had a duplicitous guest perpetrate damage (though not to this degree) and theft on our listing. ABB came through for us, quite swiftly, too. The thing that helped was having thorough documentation. So, for your house contents that were damaged....detailed photos, proof of ownership/ receipts, replacement estimates/receipts for replaced items. Unfortunately, it's a laborious process. Let the building experts assess the structural damages. Be firm and stand your ground when you need to. i.e. I had the agent overseeing my case tell me that the police report I submitted was not in good order for various reasons. I had to set him straight on that. It just took pressing the issue and being firm because I knew he was wrong. There were a few little hiccups like that, along the way. Definitely have a conversation with the police about charges etc. I see you have lots of immediate bookings coming up. Get ABB to cancel for you, so you don't get penalized. Get them to remove the penalties for the ones you've just cancelled yourself. Snooze your listing for now, or block dates. When you come through the other side, and are getting back on track, come back and we can chat about what you can do to prevent this from ever happening again. For now, focus on the task at hand. Good luck ((Big hug)).

[Malalai0]

@Colleen253  thanks !! I will kept in touch. 

[Cormac0]

@Malalai0 

With Airbnb’s lax guest identity checks we’re all only one guest away from this happening to us all.

Did this minor have a photo I’d on his listing?

How was a minor allowed to list on Airbnb?

I would not be surprised in the least if they refused to payout after they banned parties on the site and as a host you should have known that.

I’m sure you’ve drawn a quantum of solace from Brian Chesky’s “Mañana manifesto” released recently, if you haven’t, I’ll give you a brief  synopsis, bla, bla, bla, bla.

My heart is genuinely breaking for you.

[Colleen253]

@Cormac0 There's a recent post on here about someone refusing a guest who was vocal about his intent to throw a party and ABB rehoused him so he could 'have a good time' somewhere else. And yes, in this case, they allowed a minor to not only join the platform, but book this listing, all while being vocal about the intent to party. Even though @Malalai0 should have refused this guest even though she didn't know he was a minor, he shouldn't have even been able to get as far as he did on the platform. That's on ABB. Btw, the guest I had a problem with had all the verifications on his profile.... govt id, a profile photo, etc and was using his actual phone number and no search of mine brought up any red flags. I found after the fact that he was known to police. I agree we are all only one guest away from this. We have to protect ourselves with methods other than relying on ABB checks and verifications. ABB does not help us in the the slightest that's for sure

[Malalai0]

@Cormac0 

Yes, the guest did have a picture. He seemed 18... I learned from the Police that he is a minor and he shouldn't be able to use Airbnb.

@Colleen253  Yes, you're right. I should never had accepted this in the first place and we're never safe from guests that have bad intentions. I'm sorry to hear what happened to you. The guest that did this was also known to the police. He actually lied that he had guest at his home, he's actually banned to host party at his own house.

[Cormac0]

@Malalai0 

Why don’t you substitute those pictures on your actual listing so your cancelled guests will have an understanding of why their booking was cancelled.

[Malalai0]

@Cormac0 Will that not affect my future reservations? I tell my guests and send them a few pictures before asking Airbnb to cancel their reservations. 

[Dennis264]

Why would anyone post pictures of the damage on their listing?  Are you totally out of your mind?

[Pete69]

[quote]This is a crime.[/quote]

You said it. It's a crime. It rises to the level of vandalism. Call the police.

The worst guests are ones in their early 20's (or younger). Party? That's like inviting for your place to get trashed.