Nightmare for Oakland couple whose home overrun by strangers

Summary

• Oakland couple’s home trashed by strangers who hijacked home-sharing rental account

• Victims say intruders did drugs, had sex, trashed the house and stole their cars

• Oakland police are investigating

oakland – An Oakland couple said Friday they are still cleaning up and assessing the situation after their home was invaded by strangers who compromised their home-sharing account, allowing them to do drugs, have sex and even steal their car.

“These are worthless people here,” said one resident, who asked to be identified only as Eric and his wife, Jenny.

“They were using drugs. There was drug paraphernalia all over the house,” Jenny said.

“There are needles in every bathroom,” Eric said.

Rental house account was seized

What do we know?

The couple said they were disappointed that their home in Oakland’s Leona Heights neighborhood was snapped up by strangers through the rental platform HomExchange.

This week, during their 21st anniversary vacation in Lake Tahoe, they discovered their home had been taken over by strangers.

Doorbell cameras showed many people coming back again and again.

“There were so many people coming and going,” Jenny said. “There were about nine people coming and going.”

The trespassers pretended to be at home by leaving dirty dishes in the sink and stayed there for 36 hours until the couple’s cleaner arrived to see what had happened.

The couple rushed home from Tahoe to clean and cry; They were upset that they were being taken advantage of by someone claiming to be a couple who needed their home at the last minute because they were visiting a sick relative in the hospital.

“We haven’t slept in two days,” Eric said.

An interloper stole the couple’s beloved Mini Cooper.

They also suspect that the intruders brought the women for sex.

“What I mean is, these people are at the bottom of the general criminal gang that comes into our home,” Jenny said.

One man even brought a dog and fed it the couple’s dog food.

“They brought a dog and then they bathed their dog in our bathtub and used one of our brushes as a brush and it was full of dog hair,” Jenny said.

Eric, his voice trembling, said, “It’s hard to support a household. We work hard, we are teachers, we contribute to our society.”

“I’m getting through this by being grateful and realizing that we have a beautiful home, we have each other,” Jenny said.

Answer by company

what do they say

The couple says HomeExchange promised to make them whole by covering their expenses, including a locksmith. The company did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

“I really hope they take this as a wake-up call and do the right thing,” Jenny said.

Oakland police are investigating the incident as theft, fraud and grand theft auto.

Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. Email Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him at X @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan

Source

KTVU reports, Oakland police