WHAT was meant to be an easy side hustle to make extra cash turned into £250,000 of debt and a ruined home for this unlucky Airbnb host.
Erika was left homeless and pregnant after a nightmare guest in her Airbnb unit left her home destroyed.
The savvy property owner bought a two-unit building in San Francisco with her life savings – renting one unit and living in the other.
After taking to Twitter, now called X, to share her horror tale, Erika's story has since been viewed 20million times.
She blasted Airbnb for not helping her – but the company has since responded in the thread vowing to "follow up".
Erika said she woke up in April to the sound of dripping water, and at first thought it was rain.
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The host said: "We had an Airbnb guest for a one month stay. They checked out early, no warning.
"They had clogged the bathroom toilet with baby wipes and human waste. They also damaged the valve that manages water flow from the tank to the bowl. A perfect storm."
Erika awoke to "waterfalls" of faecal water streaming into her home, after the leak went unnoticed overnight.
Pregnant Erika and her husband quickly contacted Airbnb for help, but were floored when Airbnb said the couple needed to do the repairs before filing a claim for compensation.
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She said: "I was aghast. This wasn't a broken lamp. It's a building that's 50 per cent destroyed.
"It was a multi-hundred thousand dollar, multi-month home destruction and rebuild project. There was no way the guest could afford to pay it, and what about that $3M Host AirCover Guarantee?"
A plumber came to investigate the cause of the flood, and determined it was the clogged toilet that caused it.
Construction estimates estimated it would cost an astounding £105,000 to dry out the house – not counting the rebuilding costs.
Erika said: "As directed, I sent this bill directly to the guest who promptly s*it his pants."
After months of waiting and hundreds of emails, Erika is now due to deliver her child any day and has not had any help – remaining homeless.
Airbnb also questioned if the plumbing problem was partially Erika's fault.
She said: "Airbnb emailed me alluding to some doubt about the origin of the baby wipes and feces (huh?)
"They hinted at concerns about maintenance issues on the toilet (what?) People have lived here for years with no broken valve or flooding or excessive flushing of baby wipes."
This week, Airbnb offered Erika a "final offer" of only £28,000 in damage compensation – only 10% of her financial losses to date.
Erika said: "It's been over six months since Airbnb guests destroyed my home. I'm still homeless. I'm still pregnant – the baby is due any day now.
"I truly cannot imagine that a company like Airbnb intends to leave hosts homeless and otherwise high and dry in their darkest moments."
After Airbnb's response to her viral thread, Erika said she had already contacted the company "146 times".
Erika's tale has sparked outrage online, with one Twitter user calling Airbnb's behaviour the "most tone-deaf" they've seen in some time.
Another said: "You have got to be kidding??"
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One impassioned user said:" I will never use Airbnb again if she doesn’t let us know that you have rectified this situation."
Meanwhile, one Airbnb host has warned of the risk of being scammed after a nightmare guest tried to con her out of £2,000.
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