SAN FRANCISCO — When property manager Egan Lim arrived Sunday to survey the San Francisco luxury home he oversees, he was shocked by what he saw.
After the Airbnb guests checked out following a three-and-a-half month stay, Lim said he found needles scattered around the house, bent spoons, full trash cans, feces, empty Amazon boxes, open containers and other waste.
“We went in to survey the property and then immediately smelled the stench right outside the door,” Lim told KTVU. “Upon entering it, we saw garbage everywhere.”
Lim, in a hazmat suit, told the news station that he suspects the $5 million home had been rented for use as a “safe place for [the renter] to inject heroin.”
In addition to a serious cleaning, Lim said he had to call in pest control and a plumber.
Airbnb has a comprehensive host guarantee for these types of incidents, as laid out on its website.
Airbnb said this type of extensive damage is extremely rare, but in the event that a renter does cause such vandalism to a host’s property, the company offers financial protection for up to $1 million in repairs. Airbnb is currently working with the host of this rental property.
The company released the following statement:
“There have been over 300 million guest arrivals and negative incidents are extremely rare. We have zero tolerance for this type of behavior and have removed this individual from our community. We are in touch with our host and are fully supporting them under our $1 Million Host Guarantee program. The safety of our community is our priority.”
