Airbnb disasters and how to avoid them

Airbnb disasters and how to avoid them

A TWO-storey property in Melbourne’s Footscray has been “trashed” by about youths who attended an out-of-control party at the residence after it was rented for a night through an online booking site.

Police officers were called to the Ryan St property following reports of an unruly house party about 7.30am on Sunday involving carloads of African youths.

A group of people were throwing furniture onto the street when the authorities arrived, according to police.

“The property, which had been rented for the night, sustained significant damage both internally and externally,” a police statement read.

The owner of the house, identified only as Kelly, told reporters the booking was made “last minute” by a person she was led to believe was a girl from Adelaide and her five friends. But it instead turned into an out-of-control party with about 50 males rioting in her home.

She told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell that she was alerted to the incident as it was unfolding but police advised it was too dangerous for her to enter and that they could do nothing to help.

Police confirmed the majority of youths were of African appearance but declined to put a number on how many of those youths were causing trouble.

She said police told her the tenants who rented the home had invited the guests, so they couldn’t enter, the Herald Sun reported.

“I think they were powerless,” she said. “So I stood out there with the police and we all looked in while I could see my house — basically windows were being smashed, neighbours told me they could hear smashing noises, massive holes in the walls, doors knocked through,” she said.

Kelly, the owner of the wrecked Footscray property, said she burst into tears when she arrived to see her property had been vandalised. @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/p5317QNUph — Ryan Tennison (@ryan_tennison) May 7, 2018

“I felt like I was watching my house burn down ... It was awful.

“We were saying what can we do? We can’t just stand here and watch our house being trashed. And they said there is nothing you can do.”

She said she believed false names were used when the property was hired and because the damage was “malicious”, insurers weren’t going to cover the cost of repairs.

A resident who lives a couple of streets back told 3AW he noticed many of the partygoers hanging around his place.

“The police did come within about five minutes and told them to move on,” he said.

“The police didn’t raise their voices, and the African guys did adhere to what the police said so I’m very thankful.”

A 19-year-old Point Cook man has been arrested for drunken behaviour.

No one was injured during the incident and the investigation is ongoing, police said.

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megan.palin@news.com.au | @Megan_Palin