A Montauk homeowner has fallen victim of an Airbnb rental gone wild after his summer tenants threw loud parties, enjoyed outdoor sex and caused a ruckus with the neighbors.
John Templeman, a lawyer and Australian native, rented his four-bedroom home on South Federal Street on Airbnb for $1,600 a night while he was out of the country earlier this month. But the two groups of tenants who rented the property — an entrepreneur and his brother, the other two Wall Street guys — threw raucous parties and had dozens of guests during their stay, angering the locals.
Neighbor Theresa Eurell was so upset that she started a Facebook page called Montauk Rental Madness to document the debauchery. Eurell told the East Hampton Star that Templeman’s property was littered with red plastic cups and cigarettes, and a fence in her front yard was damaged by taxis shuttling guests to the home. Another neighbor claimed she heard a couple having sex outdoors.
Templeman was out of the country when the incidents occurred, and found out about the drama only when the East Hampton Star contacted him for comment. He had insisted on specific rules both in the rental contract and in “house rules” posted on the property stipulating “large parties aren’t allowed,” “only 15 adults allowed at the house at one time” and tenants must “be respectful of the neighbors by keeping noise to a minimum, particularly at night.”
Templeman’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, told us: “This is a really unfortunate situation where he tried to do the right thing by establishing a contract and house rules, and it’s unfortunate that people can’t stick to those contracts and the local laws and causes him problems as a result of it. [Templeman’s] hope is that this never happens again, and if it does his neighbors in the town would communicate directly with him so he has the opportunity to correct it.”
An Airbnb rep commented in a statement: “This particular property has been shared with guests via Airbnb once, in January of 2014.”