A Canadian couple have been forced to basically rebuild the inside of their home after a man used it for a "drug-induced orgy", when he rented their property through Airbnb.
Mark and Star King had been living in their dream home in Calgary with their two small sons, aged five and one.
The couple jumped at the chance to make a little extra money when a local man offered to hire their home for a weekend for $589. He said he had four relatives who were staying in town for a wedding.
The couple said the man was well-dressed, and told them they had a "beautiful home", reports the Telegraph.
But soon after the couple left the house for the weekend, a bus carrying 100 people arrived for what police are calling a "drug-induced orgy" that lasted two days and destroyed the couple's home.
The first thing the Kings knew about the damage was when a neighbour sent a text message on a Monday morning, asking what was going on at their house.
Although the couple rushed back home, they couldn't enter the property because Calgary laws state landlords can't enter a building without prior notice.
Mr King told the Telegraph when he arrived at the house, there were people on the front porch taunting police and telling them to leave.
Eventually the partygoers left, but inside was a trail of destruction where people had been taking ecstasy, cannabis and crack.
There was vomit on the walls, condoms everywhere, underwear, broken glass and barbeque sauce covering the 2.4m-high ceilings.
The kids' bedrooms were also trashed, with their toys broken and their five-year-old son's artwork destroyed.
"I felt shock and horror," Mr King told the Telegraph. "My son's toys were in the midst of trash and condoms. We felt violated."
"This was our sanctuary and we had worked really hard at making it home," said Ms King. "Now I can't stand being in it."
The revellers left behind a half-eaten birthday cake and a balloon, and a $54,000 repair bill.
The floors and ceilings have to be replaced, and a biohazard team has been sent in.
"Everything has to be treated as biohazardous material because of the bodily fluids," says Mr King. "It all has to be sanitised before they can even put it in landfill."
Calgary police are looking to charge the man who rented the property, while Airbnb has put the couple up in another home while theirs is repaired over three months.
The company's "host guarantee" will cover the cost of damage, meaning the Kings won't have to fork out extra money.
The man who rented the house has been banned from Airbnb.
3 News
source: newshub archive
