Guest caught on camera entering room

[Matt154]

So, to start I will take responsibility for not handling this correctly and trying to be a "nice guy"...

I had a guest, Katy from Katonah, NY, reserve a room for 4/20/18.  About 30 min later I had a different guest reserve for 4/19/18.  Then 30 min later Katy messages me and says she made a mistake and had meant to reserve for 4/19.  I told her she just missed it.  And she was charged by airbnb as it was the day before.

So, being the nice guy I am, I offer for her to take my bed.  I would throw an air mattress I have into my office and sleep there.  All of this messaging was done through airbnb app...we never exchanged phone numbers.

So before she gets there I remove all valuable or financially sensitive stuff from my bedroom and put it into my office.  I also move my game camera into the office.

I check her in, and show her the house.  I show her the room she will be staying in, and she deposits her things in there.  I explain to her that the master bed is where the airbnb guests are staying, and then the office is where I'm staying.

That night I end up sleeping over at my girlfriends house and never coming home.

I get home at about 1030 am and both guests are checked out.

I check my game camera SD card like I always do and see that Katy opened my door and walked into my room and stood there looking around.  I only had like a 5 second video on the game camera.

I message Katy to ask her about going into my room and she is not answering.  

So, I dont even know that she stole anything, and as of yet it is hard to tell.  

However, I though airbnb should know and I also thought future hosts should be aware...right?  I mean,  I know that I would certainly want to know this little nugget of information before accepting her as a guest.

I have the video and I filed a complaint with airbnb and have offered to send them the video.

I will update on here with what happens next  

[Lawrene0]

Yikes, @Matt154, undisclosed camera? See https://www.airbnb.com/trust/standards - the last paragraph under Security.

This may go very badly for you.

[Nadia121]

But I can have a nest camera in my personal room correct?

[Alexandra316]

 @Lawrene0 Would that apply though, as she was actually in a part of the home that was specifically excluded from the listing? For example, the main floor of my house is our private residence and the downstairs is an Airbnb. If I had security cameras indoord on the main floor, surely I wouldn't have to disclose that?

[Lawrene0]

It says "in the listing", @Alexandra316, and I'm worried @Matt154 is going to be one of those hosts who are shut down with no word on why, and it will turn out to be the camera. Hopefully not, Matt. She was clearly out of line and in your personal space, but do watch out for her defence. 

Going forward, if there is a camera in any space a guest might go, it will be in your best interest to disclose it. 

Maybe someone who knows more about how the rules pertain to cameras will jump in and say I'm wrong. That will be good. 

[Sarah977]

@Lawrene0   What she did was totally uncool, but some people are just nosy. If there was nothing missing, I'd chalk it up to a guest weirdness and forget it. If you ever do the same again, i.e. vacate your room for a guest and move your valuables to the office and then sleep elsewhere, maybe you could lock that door for peace of mind. And in your review, I would mention in private feedback to the guest that you are aware that she opened that door and that it was a total invasion of privacy. I'd get a ruling on the legality of the camera in a not-guest-common-area before mentioning it in a public review. It doesn't seem to me that it's airbnb's business if you have a camera in your private space for your own security, but who knows what their ruling on that would be.

[Matt154]

I would normally agree with you on that...but she is the first guest I've ever had do that and I think it was because she knew her stay with me was not "official" as an airbnb guest?

I couldnt find anything missing, and I agree no harm, no foul...

I guess she has shown a tendency to go into the homeowners private room and snoop...and I guess I would want to be aware of that if I was a host and she contacted me about staying at my place for the night.

Honestly, since I was missing nothing, and will never host her again...it really benefits me in no way to file a complaint/report with airbnb, or to post on here in attempts to warn other hosts...

I just wanted to be a good samaritan to other hosts and try to do a good deed.

I waited to respond on here until airbnb support contacted me back, but as of yet they have not and I suspect they may not at all.

which is, again, not a big deal for me...as I already know who this guest is and am aware...

Oh, and with regards to locking the door...the way my house is situated I have a simple curtain for a door.  It is hard to explain but I stay in a breezeway near the garage part of the house that is completely on the other side of the house from the master bedroom that I rent out.

Upon greeting guests, I always tell them they have free use of their room/bath and the living room and kitchen...but that the area beyond the blue curtain is my area.  

All of my guests have always understood and respected this.

This one guest who I allowed to stay when she lost her deposit (being a nice guy isnt always smart I guess)...was the first person Ive had violate my trust.

Again, I think it was because she knew I could not leave a review and so forth due to being "outside" the system

Trust me, I will never do that again  😉

[Lawrene0]

@Matt154, could you lock your office, as @Sarah977 suggests? I'm assuming not, since you didn't, but it might be worth getting a lock rather than dealing with the open-to-interpretation subject of cameras. Do let us know what happens, as you said.

[Cynthia206]

We have installed door handles with key locks to all rooms guests are not to enter. Pretty simple. 

[Paul154]

I was shocked when my pharmacist friend told me he rummages through people's medicine cabinet. The things you can learn are amazing!

Even though I was raised to respect privacy, many people are wired differently.

@Matt154 , you did nothing untowardly nor illegal. Guests were excluded from your office, so they had no expectation of privacy there.  Unfortunately, if you bring up the subject, you may find a confused Airbnb employee who took one law class in college and thinks he is practically a lawyer. You could be kicked off the platform.  

Best to leave nothing valuable in one's home and lock rooms you want undisturbed.

Review the guest by saying she did not follow house rules. Thumbs down?

[Elizabeth429]

Is it possible that she misunderstood your kindness and decided to pay you a visit? Can you tell what time she went into the room?

I rent my own home and completely vacate it during the guest is here; and even though I keep away most of my stuff, I always find that things have been moved and draws tried to be opened. Males and females equally noisy.