Homeowner secretly recording AIRBNB guests

[left-of-center2012]

LONGBOAT KEY, Fla. (WFLA) —
A vacation rental on Longboat Key had a hidden camera secretly recording guests in the bedroom, police say.
The homeowner, Wayne Natt, was arrested and charged with video voyeurism.

Last month, an Indiana man and his wife were staying at a Longboat Key condo they found on Airbnb at 623 Cedars Court.
During their stay, the man noticed something odd about the smoke detector above the bed in the master bedroom.
The device had a small black dot. When he opened up the smoke detector, he found a camera and a microphone inside. There was another similar smoke detector in the living room.

Natt lives in the unit when it’s not booked. He says the cameras are for his personal use and are not activated when guests are present.
But police say the cameras can be operated remotely and they found numerous videos in the bedroom, including one of the Indiana couple.

Airbnb spokesman Benjamin Breit said in a statement:
“We are outraged at the reports of what happened; as soon as we were made aware, we permanently banned this individual from our community and fully supported the affected guests.
Our team has reached out to local law enforcement to aid them with their investigation of this egregious offense and we hope justice is served.
We take privacy issues extremely seriously and have a zero-tolerance policy against this behavior.”

[cwydro]

1. Yuck.

You could not pay me to stay in one of those Airbnb places.

[Iggo]

2. Yep. I don't want to have the run of a stranger's house...

...and I can't understand why they'd want me to have it.

I don't get it. (And I get that I don't get it...lol.)

[cwydro]

3. Me too!

I'm not a very social person. Just not a thing for me.

I understand others may enjoy that, but not for me.

[nini]

5. I'm the same way

I'm sticking to traditional hotels etc.. It's creepy LOL

[Skittles]

9. because perverts are never in hotels

remember Erin Andrews?

[nini]

10. Yes I do

But there's more regulations on big hotels.. I'll go with the odds thanks

[Phentex]

4. Not the first and won't be the last...

it's very icky and scary but there have been many stories about this exact thing.

[Weekend Warrior]

6. Not really an airbnb issue.

It's a concern when it comes to short term rental homes across the globe. When I go places I often rent a home over that of staying in a hotel or with relatives. It's a great way to go if you can do it. Most of the homes I stay in are occupied for a portion of the year by the owner. I use vrbo most of the time. There are no camera sweeps or checks. It's simply an agent working to book the house and turn it over between vacancies. I've often thought about camera's. That said, the most I have been concerned about camera's was when I stayed in one of my own family members vacation home.

Seems there is a concerted effort to make some issues sound as if they are airbnb issues when the issues themselves have been around for a long time.

[Iggo]

7. That's true.

This is about a creepy asshole who records people without their permission.

Like when that Uber driver pleaded guilty to raping a woman and assaulting a bunch of others. For a minute it felt like people were more mad at Uber than they were at rape.

[TexasBushwhacker]

11. I've been happy with my VRBO rentals

When I want to stay somewhere more than a couple of days I like "vacation rentals" with a kitchen so I don't have to eat out for every meal.

[Weekend Warrior]

12. Love driving up to a place knowing I will have a fully stocked kitchen.

Our first run is always to the grocery store.

I have yet to be let down by a home rented through vrbo. I did show up to one once and there was dirty linens, the garbage hadn't been taken out, and it hadn't been cleaned. I went to the grocery store after contacting the agent about the problem. They were already there taking care of the issues when I returned from the store. I say I wasn't let down because everyone should have a chance to fix a mistake, and they fixed it in very short order.

[lame54]

8. OnAirB&B

[dembotoz]

13. there was an urban legend about a hotel in wisconsin...same thing

2 way mirror sort of thing