Airbnb: Arkansas Family Sues After Shocking Discovery of Hidden Camera in Scottsdale Airbnb

A family from Arkansas has filed a lawsuit after discovering a hidden camera in their Scottsdale Airbnb rental, positioned in a fake smoke detector directly above their bed. According to Fox 10 Phoenix , the camera was noticed a few days into their stay in March 2024, leading the family to leave the property immediately. "They're just laying there, looking straight up in the morning," Joseph Brown, representing the Young family, told Fox 10 Phoenix . "They woke up and they're like, 'that's a very odd place for a smoke detector.' And then they were suspicious." The device, discovered to be a camouflaged camera after closer inspection, initiated legal action from the family against both the property owner and Airbnb. Despite Airbnb's policy banning hidden cameras on their properties and having suspended the host in the previous year, the stakes of this violation are great. As told by a private investigator, Justin Yentes, during an interview with AZFamily , "I'd like to say that it doesn't happen a lot, but there's a lot of creeps out there. So, you have to be careful." The lawsuit reveals that there were clips recovered of individuals in private, intimate moments, unknowingly recorded. Scottsdale Police have informed that while the camera contained an SD card with recordings, the timestamps suggest they feature only the homeowner and acquaintances between September and November 2020-a period before the home's conversion to a short-term rental. The property on Silver Spur Street had never been registered with the city as required, a fact unknown to city officials, as Airbnb confirmed in a statement obtained by Fox 10 Phoenix . For those planning to stay in private rentals, Yentes suggested employing a simple security measure. "You need only your cell phone to look for infrared lights, which cannot be seen by the naked eye," he explained to AZFamily . The concern for privacy invasion remains, while Scottsdale Police continue to investigate and have made several unsuccessful attempts to contact the involved homeowner. The homeowner has also been cited for lacking the required rental license and for failing to respond to an emergency.