Some Jerk Secretly Airbnb'd His Roommate's Wicker Park Condo

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Aug 31, 2015 6:40PM

If you have a roommate who travels a lot, you may have been tempted by the fantasy of secretly renting out his room for some side cash. And you probably haven't done it, because it sounds like exactly the kind of hair-brained sitcom-plot scheme that could only end in disaster.

That's more or less what happened to Robert Corwin, a digital artist who splits his time between the West Coast and a condo in West Town, according to CBS Local. Corwin returned home from his travels recently to find a pair of young strangers shacking up in his master bedroom, his liquor supply ransacked and a random hookah that looked to him like the remnants of an orgiastic drug den.

"Your imagination goes crazy," Corwin told CBS. "What’s been going on? It could be everything from orgies to, like, drugs."

Turns out, it was actually Airbnb, the trendy short-term apartment renting service that allows homeowners (and some renters) to turn their homes or spare bedrooms into part-time vacation homes for fees upwards of $100 a night. As Corwin discovered as he escorted the strange couple from his home, his roommate had been surreptitiously listing the master bedroom on Airbnb.

Corwin has since kicked the enterprising roommate out, and filed a complaint with Airbnb. Airbnb reps told CBS that the company is looking into Corwin's complaint. Does Corwin feel violated, CBS reporters asked him?

"Yeah, it's awful," he said. "Somebody invaded my nest."

Airbnb horror stories like Corwin's are becoming increasingly common as more people looking to make extra money on their (increasingly costly) apartments turn to the amateur bed-and-breakfast business. At least one Manhattan Airbnb has unwittingly played host to an actual orgy, and some drugged out partiers once caused $150,000 to an Airbnb in Calgary.

[H/T Gawker]