DENVER (KDVR) — A Denver woman who rented her home through Vrbo is living out her nightmare.
The host, who asked that her name and face not be revealed, was renting her place on Vrbo for the very first time. Her listing photos advertised a pristine, modern home, and a group of guests soon booked it for eight nights. But only one day into their stay, she received 56 notifications from her Ring camera, which captured the guests breaking a number of rules in her non-smoking house.
Taking Vrbo’s advice, the host said she gave the guests four hours to pack up and get out. After receiving a notification, they checked out. But she walked in and heard people still in her home, and she saw some things she will never forget.
“I go in and I was shaking by what I saw,” the host said. “I was thinking they’re just smoking cigarettes, and there’s dog poop. I walk in, and they’ve rearranged my living room to have this elaborate computer setup with scanners and fake IDs everywhere. There are plates of cocaine, there are different kinds of pipes to smoke things, blue circle pills everywhere.”
Police showed up a few hours later. They took one of the men into custody, after learning he had a warrant out for his arrest. He also had a gun.
The others were allowed to leave, the woman said.
“They asked if I wanted to press charges,” she said. “I said yes, for trespassing, and then [police] came back and said since I was renting, this is actually a civil matter and I can’t press charges. I just don’t understand the law enough to understand why this is all falling under civil [when there’s] someone with a warrant and guns and drugs, and then you just let them all go.”
Police removed the cocaine from her residence. But she said they came back the next day, when she called asking them to remove some fentanyl that had also been left behind. Police told her to get rid of the other belongings the group had left behind, but she said one guest keeps messaging her for their stuff.
The guest is also disputing the more-than-$1,900 booking cost. The host said she’s now out that money, plus an additional $2,000 in cleaning costs to remove the drugs and dirt from her brand-new place. She claimed Vrbo is giving her the runaround, too.
After everything that transpired, the woman is now scarred and scared to host again, she said.
When questioned, Vrbo said it was investigating the incident. They said they’re hopeful that everything can be resolved.
Denver Police, meanwhile, said they are looking into specific details of the case. They did acknowledge, however, that officers generally have a responsibility to collect any illegal items or items of personal property and to log these items in the Denver Police Department to be destroyed or released to the rightful owner.