AirBnB guest named Candace Smith, also goes by “Candace Nirvana” and represents under the company name of “The Essence Photographer” @theessencephotographer and “Oakland Brand Photography” (oaklandbrandphotography.com) and her friend, Katlyn Hubner who goes under the name @katlynlacoste on social media, stayed in our penthouse unit from September 28th- October 1st 2020. They rented the property through Airbnb where the usage is supposed to be for sleeping in the unit, not to be used for commercial or illicit purposes- guests were also strictly prohibited. Candace Smith (The Essence Photographer) and Katlyn Lacoste-Hubner used our penthouse to advertise and execute a series of adult themed (NSFW) photo shoots where they were naked on our rooftop, publicly subjecting our neighbors and their children to the naked women and men taking photos during their stay. Not only did they violate nearly every one of our stated (and contract signed off on) rules, they used our copyrighted images of our penthouse (without permission) to advertise their photo shoots, had many people in and out of our building during the pandemic-violating city/state/local/airbnb laws/rules/safety protocol, let their (alleged) service dog become a nuisance to the neighbors by it’s excessive barking and running off-leash through common areas, moving around furniture and leaving it not as-found, smoking whereas our building is 100% smoke-free, leaving large amounts of garbage to be removed, leaving behind personal items to be disposed of, damaging a very expensive and very large dining table by spilling acetone? or something similar on it, refusing to check-out on time and causing our cleaning crew to have to wait outside of the apartment causing us to have to pay them to stand around and wait, and the list goes on. Overall these were guests from hell.
Here is a legal article that explains that it is illegal to hold any commercial photography inside our property, especially since guest, Candace, also signed an agreement that specifically prohibits any kind of photography inside our unit as it devalues the commercial shoots we do here. Our properties are frequently used for television, advertising photography, and movie shoots. She signed off on a document that explicitly forbids what she did. Commercial photography purposes means that you are photographing for financial gain or to promote goods or services. https://thelawtog.com/public-places-private-places-photography-oh-my-legal-tips-for-photographers/ We have proof that they were selling the opportunity to photograph themselves naked in our home. And also offering branding/ personal photo shoots on our property through the stay. See advertising photos and screenshots from their social media profiles.
She tried to sneak in a dog and claimed it was a service dog. I only thought to ask her if she was bringing any animals after reading her reviews that cited finding evidence of a dog having been in their home without her letting the hosts know in advance (red flag #1.) She offered documentation (red flag #2) and upon inspecting the document, it was from a fraudulent pay for certificate company online where you pay $100 and they make you an official looking document. We decided to let it go since business is slower due to covid, and just charge an animal security deposit. Unfortunately, the dog barked non-stop and acquired several complaints from neighboring units. She also let the dog run loose in the common building areas (documented by video surveillance) and the dog left hair on our couches and bedding despite us asking to keep the animal off the furniture and bedding.
Throughout the stay there were numerous people coming and going. We made very clear that this space was not to be used for parties, events or gatherings of any kind and that undeclared guests were strictly prohibited by our rules, airbnb, local state and city laws. At the request of airbnb customer service, we agreed on a discounted rate of $70 for hassle of the additional guests (whom she claimed were friends visiting only to pay their condolences to her friend who she booked with Katlyn Hubner, whose “mother had recently died.”) However, in video surveillance you can hear conversations that denote the parties did not know each other well and also you can clearly see several of them arriving and leaving with photography equipment/large bags. It made our long term tenants very upset that there were so many people coming and going in our building during a pandemic, which is against the rules of the building, city, county, state, and country.
Here is a compilation video from beginning walk-through prior to their check in on September 28th- through the surveillance footage and photos of damages to walk through after they had vacated.