Yes- you read that correctly. During a pandemic (November 27th, 2020) Vanessa Jackson rented out our Penthouse via the AirBnB platform under the guise of “just a relaxing weekend with me and a couple girlfriends.” We found this flyer for her party….

Yes, she was told the rules

Yes, she claimed she understood the severity of the pandemic and the local/state laws strictly prohibiting parties, gatherings, events of any kind

Did that stop her from throwing a party and trashing our home? Sadly no. But, we really wish it did.

Vanessa seemed nice enough upon her arrival to our property. She was polite and signed off on the rules sheet, writing down her friends’ names for our records, insurance, & security detail. That’s where the pleasantries ended however. A long term building tenant noticed a couple of girls standing outside the front door and it was disclosed that they had just broken off the key in the front door and couldn’t get back in the building. The building owner came to remove the lock and call a locksmith. Unfortunately, this is a very expensive commercial security lock that could not be fixed quickly according to two locksmiths. Security had to then post near the front of the building as a precaution as this is Chicago after all. At about 10pm we noticed via our security feed that there were additional people in excess of the reservation count, arriving and heading up to the penthouse. These people were all dressed in party/club attire, none of them had suitcases or overnight bags- some were carrying bottles of liquor. Our security personnel (already on premise) moved to stand next to the building entrance. The next people to arrive were asked for their names to match up against the rules sheet with the documented allowed guests for the reservation. Their names obviously did not match because the couple of people on that list were already inside the building and these party goers were in breach of policy. Upon letting them know this, and that that only the persons listed on the reservation were legally allowed inside the building, they contacted Vanessa to complain that they were not being allowed inside the building and “had paid a lot of money to be here at this party.”

Vanessa came down to the front door and began berating both of the security staff guys now present, and expressing her displeasure, explicitly. Meanwhile the additional people showing up for the party, kept coming (and coming, and coming, and coming!) Security explained again, that anybody who was not on the reservation was not allowed inside the building. Vanessa stormed off back to the penthouse. A few minutes later there was a large group of about 30 people who showed up for the party, all fighting and arguing and shouting in the street amongst themselves and on the phone- screaming about how they wanted their money back for the party they paid to attend. One of the neighbors must have notified the police, and they arrived to the scene of the uproar. After dispersing the crowd in the street, the police were standing in front of the building with us, talking about the events of the evening. Suddenly, water started pouring out of the top of the building. We all stood there dumbfounded for a moment, and Vanessa and her group started hurrying out of the building and running to their cars. Escorted by law enforcement and security, we rapidly climbed the stairs to the penthouse to find that Vanessa’s group had turned on the jets to the giant jaccuzzi tub, turned on the water full blast, turned the jets upward so that the water shot out of the tub and all over the bathroom, and left it running on full blast. They overflowed the water flooding the penthouse they rented, and two long term tenants who resided below. There was so much water that the water actually started coming out of the building walls and pouring down the outside of the building.

Throughout the night, well over a hundred (if not a couple hundred) people showed up for this party. We had to pay a security guard to sit outside the front of the building all night long to prevent anyone else from illegally entering the property (due to the front door lock being broken by Vanessa & co.)

So far, Vanessa and AirBnB have both declined to pay for any of the damages.