A Scottsdale property owner and the short-term rental service Airbnb are being sued by a former renter who claims they found a camera disguised as a smoke detector in a bedroom.
The renter filed a lawsuit on April 2 and was being represented by Accident Law Group in Tempe, according to court documents.
Alarm bells were initially raised in March 2024 after the man renting the property found a camera disguised as a smoke detector in the bedroom, police said. Police stated the man found a removable memory card inside the camera that held footage showing the interior of the residence.
Scottsdale police reviewed the footage from the memory card to find that no renters were on camera, and the videos were time-stamped between September and November 2020.
Police said it was unknown if the time stamps were accurate. If accurate, the videos only showed the homeowner and his acquaintances and were taken four years prior to the renter being in the Airbnb, police said.
At the time of the incident, the Airbnb location was not registered with the city of Scottsdale as a short-term rental, and Scottsdale police confirmed they contacted VRBO and Airbnb to delist the property after learning about the camera.
“It is not illegal to have a camera in the house. It is illegal to film people without their permission when the person has an expectation of privacy,” Scottsdale police said. “We have no evidence this was done to any renters. With that said, this doesn’t qualify under the law because, the renter was not in any videos that we have. There is no recording of the renter at any point.”
While filming people without permission is illegal, because the renter who found the camera was not in any of the videos, he was not a victim of the secret recordings, police said. The incident was deemed a civil issue per the short-term rental agreement, Scottsdale police confirmed.
On April 5, 2024, after failing to respond to police, the homeowner was cited by the Scottsdale Police Department Short-Term Rentals unit for failure to respond to an emergency.
The case was still under active investigation as of April 2025, police said.
People who stayed at the Scottsdale Airbnb property from September to November 2020 may not have known they were being recorded, according to Scottsdale police.
The Scottsdale Police Department said people who might have visited the home during that time should call 480-312-TIPS.
Airbnb representative, Ashley Adams, stated that Airbnb had not been contacted by law enforcement about this matter and that they have provided guests with information on the Airbnb law enforcement support team to share with an investigating officer.
“Hidden cameras have always been and will always be banned on Airbnb, and issues are exceptionally rare,” Adams said. “We supported the guest and suspended the host from the platform last year and are ready to assist law enforcement with any investigation into this allegation.”
In 2024, Airbnb adopted a policy banning security cameras inside of listings. Adams additionally stated that they carry out background checks on all U.S.-based hosts and guests, provide users with a 24-hour safety line and work closely with law enforcement on relevant criminal investigations.
VRBO had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication, but a search of its website found a policy that states surveillance devices, which use any form of capture device such as a camera or an audio recorder, can’t be used inside of a property. Smart devices activated remotely were allowed as long as renters were informed of their presence and given the option to deactivate them, the policy said.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Scottsdale Airbnb renter files lawsuit over alleged hidden camera