A Toronto man who rented his apartment to a stranger using the website Airbnb says he returned home to find it trashed and $21,000 worth of possessions missing.
Mathew Lyn says the thieves stole camera equipment, a drone, clothes, shoes -- even his luggage.
He also said that his home was littered with dirty dishes and used condoms, and his bed was soiled.
Const. Craig Brister of the Toronto Police Service said problems like Lyn鈥檚 are becoming 鈥渁 bigger issue.鈥�
鈥淵ou鈥檙e giving someone complete access to your home. There is no oversight, there鈥檚 no one supervising,鈥� Const. Brister said. 鈥淵ou have to ask yourself: is it really worth it for the money you鈥檙e making?"
Airbnb spokesman Nick Shapiro said 鈥渢rust is actually on the rise鈥� and that incidents like Lyn鈥檚 are rare. There are more than half a million homes rented through Airbnb daily.
Lyn, who has used Airbnb 60 times, said that he believes Airbnb will cover his losses, and he won鈥檛 let the bad experience stop him from using its services again.
鈥淗ow can you pass up your rent being paid for and not dig into your savings?" he said.
Next time, however, Lyn says he will take more precautions. He says he will meet the renters face-to-face to hand over keys and insist on taking photos of government-issued identification.
With a report from CTV鈥檚 Peter Akman in Toronto
