'Don't ruin my weekend': Host scams guest who turns out to be ex-city inspector, gets property red-tagged and costs host over $70,000 in repairs

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Oct 19, 2023 6:00 PM EDT

If you're going to do some shady work, then you should at the very least do some research on your victims. Like, that's villainy 101. You can't scam a scam artist, ya know? You're already getting chased by karma, you shouldn't give it any reason to catch up. 

But, oh boy, when karma does catch up is it satisfying! This kind of justice got epically served recently by a guest who almost got scammed by the host of a condo he booked for a long weekend. According to this reddit post, he and his friends booked a condo for a long weekend trip. When they got there, they realized it was nothing like advertised and had tons of issues, but they didn't let it ruin their weekend. They kept having a good time, until the Karen neighbor upstairs kept coming down to yell at them for issues that had nothing to do with them. 

Finally, the condo next door threw a party and they got called out for it. The Karen apparently called the condo owner and didn't even bother to investigate the cause of the party and the condo came in with fire in his eyes. He busted in the door where these guests were staying and started being very aggressive. They called the cops, and that's when the condo owner started trying to back track. But the damage was down. 

OP and his buddies left and, through the 3rd party app the booked from, got a new spot fulled paid for and a total refund from the awful other place. The thing is, OP couldn't let this egregious act go. You see, little did the Karen neighbor and the condo owner know, but OP used to work for the city as a city inspector and he definitely spotted more than one code violations during his short stay. 

So he wrote up a letter detailing all of the violations at this condo to the city and the new inspector was there quickly and had the place red-tapped in hours. He ended up costing the condo owner over $70,000 in repairs and they had to reapply for their renting permit. Just goes to show, if you're going to treat people you don't even know with zero respect, then be prepared to be treated the same or 10 times worse in return. 

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  • 01
    Property - "What the Condo Owner and Karen didn't know is, I used to work in this town... specifically doing code enforcement..." MacrandaU
    via Dave Schumaker via Flickr
  • 02
    Font - Posted by u/Embykinks 1 day ago Don't ruin my weekend So 2 years ago me and a group of friends rented a condo in a popular tourist town for a long weekend.
    via u/Embykinks
  • 03
    Font - We paid a pretty penny, but the location was perfect for our needs. When we got there, the building and condo were both pretty underwhelming, but we didn't care. It was just a place to sleep and we wouldn't be spending much time there. When I say underwhelming, I really mean the building was
    via u/Embykinks
  • 04
    Font - unsafe. The exterior egress stairwells had sections rotted through, loose railings, you name it. Not long after checking in and getting settled, we were able to figure out that this place was going to be a
    via u/Embykinks
  • 05
    Font - problem. The Karen neighbor upstairs demanded we move a vehicle from the unloading zone because it had been there too long. It had been there for about 20 minutes and we were still unloading food. She was quick to inform us that she was the president of the COA and if
    via u/Embykinks
  • 06
    Font - we step out of line again she will have us removed without a refund. Right after this, a black pickup truck pulled up and she beelined to talk to the driver who never got out of his vehicle.
    via u/Embykinks
  • 07
    Font - Later that afternoon, another group checked into the condo next to us but Karen wasn't there when they checked in, so they didn't get the same uppity treatment. Our group left to go out to dinner and ended up staying out pretty late.
    via u/Embykinks
  • 08
    Font - When we got back everything was quiet and we were lights out not long after. The next day, the condo next to us is already getting after it pretty early. This is a pretty busy weekend in this particular town and they
    via u/Embykinks
  • 09
    Font - definitely have other friends in town too. They're BBQing, swimming, loud music, really not bothering us though. We keep noticing that black pickup driving by almost hourly. We assume he's probably a local that lives in the neighborhood and don't think anything of it.
    via u/Embykinks
  • 10
    Font - We go out again for dinner and head back to the condo to grab a pregame beer or two before going out for the night and it's a madhouse. The condo next to us is having a party that is spilled into every open space on the property. We
    via u/Embykinks
  • 11
    Font - go into our condo, lock the doors, and snap a few pictures/videos in case we have to show our host that we were not involved.
    via u/Embykinks
  • 12
    Font - As we're sitting in our condo finishing our beers before we head out (no music on, football was on TV) the door slams open and we're greeted with a screaming "WHAT THE F ARE YOU A OLES DOING?!" From a guy that barges in (key in hand) with Karen watching from outside the door. We
    via u/Embykinks
  • 13
    Font - immediately spring up ready for a fight. We don't know this guy and at first thought he was with the party and broke down our door. He then identifies himself as the host (condo owner) and again starts screaming at us. As it turns out, Karen told him we were hosting this large party, not bothering to take notice that it was the condo next
    via u/Embykinks
  • 14
    Font - to us. She piggybacks off of him screaming at us that we're destroying the condo and need to leave. We asked them to step outside and we will come out to talk numerous times, all while we're now recording, but they both refuse just repeating "get the f leave!" At us. out,
    via u/Embykinks
  • 15
    Font - So we call the cops. When he realizes that my one friend is on the phone with the dispatcher, the owner catches some post- (yelling)nut clarity and reality smacks him. He begs for my friend to hang up but he refuses. He immediately changes his tone and yells at Karen to go back upstairs to her unit.
    via u/Embykinks
  • 16
    Font - The police show up (a few cars since the initial call was for someone who was irate and forced their way into our condo. They see right away what's going on, break up the large party, and ask us nicely if we can work things out with our host (who has pulled a full 180 and is trying to smooth everything over). At this
    via u/Embykinks
  • 17
    Font - point, we realize that the black pickup belongs to our host, and he tells us the reason he was driving by almost hourly was that Karen kept calling him complaining about us. This whole time, Karen is out on her balcony chirping, saying we were doing stuff that we weren't, citing COA violations, definitely half shot in the a herself.
    via u/Embykinks
  • 18
    Font - We inform our host that we're going to vacate and handle the issue through the 3rd party we booked through. He doesn't like this and is trying to hide his rage while being nice in front of the officers that are still there. He insists if we
    via u/Embykinks
  • 19
    Font - vacate we won't be entitled to any refunds and all the usual BS they say when they know they're wrong. We show him the rental contract that says the owner can't enter the condo except for certain exceptions that don't apply. So we round up our stuff and check into a motel that the 3rd party's customer service found for us.
    via u/Embykinks
  • 20
    Font - Revenge had to be doled out here, I just couldn't let it go. So I sit down and do it the right way. What the Condo Owner and Karen didn't know is, I used to work in this town when I was younger, or should I say I worked for the town, specifically doing code enforcement (building, fire sub code, fire safety, and
    via u/Embykinks
  • 21
    Font - local ordinance). I filed a complaint with the town against the COA that was to this day one of the longest they've ever seen. The inspector went out and actually red-tagged the property (meaning uninhabitable until repairs are made) for some of the worst violations. In total,
    via u/Embykinks
  • 22
    Font - the COA had to spend over $70,000 to fix their violations, in addition to the costs of the penalties/fines and reapplying for their license to rent. It cleaned out their coffers and each unit had to shell out cash. There was a rumor that Karen was investigated for stealing from the COA but I never heard if it went anywhere.
    via u/Embykinks
  • 23
    Font - Oh and the 3rd party app fully refunded us. If you're going to be an a hole, you're going to pay for it.
    via u/Embykinks

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