ATLANTA — A metro woman rented out her dream home, only to see it turned into a party place.
Maria Copeland told Channel 2's Justin Wilfon that she's rented out her house for years. But her latest renting experience through Airbnb turned into a nightmare.
Copeland said she started getting phone calls from her neighbors while she was away. She said the party was so big, cars lined her entire southwest Atlanta street.
[READ: Airbnb renters accused of stealing TVs, more from home]
When she told Wilfon when she got back to her home the next morning, she did not like what she saw.
"They were charging people a cover to come in, so this was a real rave. Like, this house was a party. Like, THE party," Copeland said.
Copeland said she rented her home out to a young soldier.
“All these things just made me feel like it was a safe decision to make,” she told Wilfon.
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Instead, the soldier marched in and threw a party. Her neighbors sent her video from outside the big bash showing cars lined up and down the street.
“The neighbors were sending me nastygrams: ‘Hey, there’s a party at your house.’”
She rushed back the next morning and found the place trashed, her yard torn up and a broken sprinkler system.
Another neighbor captured video of a tow truck pulling a car out of her yard.
[READ: Metro Atlanta cities wrestle with whether to ban Airbnb or cash in]
“Just in the yard, I think I paid $3,000 to get it repaired,” Copeland said.
Inside the house, she found her furniture moved to the garage -- apparently to make way for a dance floor that damaged her hardwoods.
Worst of all, she said, Airbnb paid for none of it.
“There’s a $1 million host guarantee and it seems like their goal is to make sure the hosts don’t collect on it,” Copeland.
[READ: AirBnB host comes home to ransacked house]
Wilfon contacted Airbnb on Friday, which seemed to have a change of heart.
The company told Wilfon, “While our original handling of this incident did not meet the high standards we set for ourselves, we have reached out to the host to support them with their claim.”
Copeland said there are still thousands of dollars in repairs left to make after she said her renter went wild.
Airbnb also told Wilfon that these kind of incidents are extremely rare.
Cox Media Group
