Teen rents home with parents' credit card, $20k worth of rowdiness ensues
Like right out of a teen movie, a 14-year-old girl decided to throw the party of the year last Friday, in West Vancouver.
The young girl rented the house through an unspecified rental broker online. Next, police in West Vancouver say they were called to “deal with reports of an ‘uncontrolled party’ happening in the 2400-block of Ottawa Avenue” the same day. Neighbours say the house was sold last summer and has been rented out on Airbnb ever since.
Police explain what they saw when they approached the rental: “approximately 200 teenagers flooding out” of the residence.
Multiple calls were sent in about the rowdiness in the neighbourhood as teens took over the hillside streets. The reports were for a “large scale disturbance” in an area that appears to consist of spacious single-family and detached homes.
Swarms of teenagers had descended on the party, which had clearly gotten out of hand and had grown quickly, beyond its intended scope. Police found dozens of alcohol containers and thrown pillows remained on the roof in time for the evening news circuit.
The damages? According to early assessments from police, walls, furniture and artwork broken during the party total approximately $20,000.
The teen’s family has agreed to pay for the damages while the homeowner will withhold criminal charges.
This story out of West Vancouver falls into the same category of short-term rental nightmares that have happened all over the country. They mostly concern unsuspecting hosts turning their keys over to guests, only to discover days or hours later that hundreds of people intend to party in a house they have no connection with.
Collectibles stolen, artwork and furniture damaged, garbage everywhere… If you host on short-term rental sites, do you have the proper insurance coverage?