Caused the damage. You can still see the baby wipe. Its hard to believe that a clogged and broken toilet could have caused so much damage, but it was the toilet that had been broken and running over for 15 plus hours. Erika gemser and her husband, who are expecting their first child any day now, were forced to move out of their home in the Mission District six months ago. Their house is still unfixed. There was no kitchen, no bathrooms that could be usable. Gemser is an airbnb host, a march 15th for guests signed on to stay at her upstairs unit in the Mission District for a month. They had actually left it the evening of april 13th, presumably she right before or right after this clog started. Gemser lived in the unit directly downstairs. She didnt see any red flags until it was too late. Water coming from every crevice, opening, every light fixture. Gemser immediately called airbnb, who then told her to get a full estimate and receipts for the repairs to her home. She says the extent of the damage made it impossible to get a quick assessment out. I tried to explain this to airbnb like this is not a this is not a broken door. This isnt furniture. Gemser says it took weeks for airbnbs investigative plumber to arrive and determine the cause of the clogged toilet. Three of those things happening. Its the feces. Its the baby wipes that they probably use. The entire 30 days that they were there. And the trying to relieve of the clog by messing with the tank. Gemser estimates that the damages and the losses add up to about 300,000. She says shes disappointed by airbnbs coverage policy for hosts. They advertise it as the 3 million host protection guarantee. So the idea is, as a host, weve got you covered top to bottom with 3 million of coverage. So dont worry. We got you. It turns out 90 of that is not covered. So theyve given me an offer of around 31,000. Gemser believes she was fully covered between airbnbs host coverage and her own Homeowners Insurance. It turns out thats not the case. So for people who are thinking about being hosts, look into all the different insurance you can buy. Buy all of it, buy all of it. An airbnb, just got back to us and released this statement. Quote, we take air cover requests incredibly seriously, including in this case where we tried to send a Third Party Investigator to review the damage, but the host declined, stating that her Homeowners Insurance company was supporting her with the damage, as well as temporary accommodations. Still, we offered to pay the loss of her bookings, her insurance deductible and additional reimbursement as a gesture of goodwill. Weve been in continuous contact with the hosts, including speaking today to continue to support her. Now i reached out to gemser for a response and she says shes astounded by the statement. She says much of it is untrue. And gemser says she has 60 emails with Third Party Investigators trying to get him to come out and review the damage. Live in the newsroom. Suzanne phan abc seven news. All right, suzanne, thank you for that. Remarkable. Now, while gemser is not suing any of the guests who stayed at her place, this whole situation raises questions about the rights of airbnb hosts and their guests. Yeah, it really does. Seven on your sides Michael Finney joins us now with what both parties should be thinking about before getting involved with airbnb. Lets start with the guests. They have many of the same protections as offered when staying at a hotel. I spoke with an attorney who is an expert on airbnb. Enrico schaffer of traverse legal. He has been involved in hundreds of airbnb cases. He says the guests who follow the rules get good backup by airbnb. But he says hosts are in a different situation. If you are a host out, you have no seat at the table and its your kitchen table. Why will airbnb not give hosts a seat at the table . And if youre a host individual, legally youve got no power. Schaffer is an airbnb host himself and says the platform is amazing. But go in with your eyes open by insurance. Think about what youre doing. Yeah. All right. A lot to think about. Thank you, michael. The abc7 news iteam has a striking example tonight of the San FranciscoPolice Departments return to their prepandemic policy when it comes to dealing with the citys unhoused population. It is now enforcing lower level laws against camping on public sidewalk. S iteam reporter dan noyes has the story of todays arrest of a homeless convicted sex offender living next to a catholic grade school. I arrived just as police gave 46 year old adam moore one last chance to move from the sidewalk where hes lived. For more than two years. Across from stella maris k through eight in the richmond district. They want me to make me go away. Thats it. They were very clear about that. They want you to go where they said, wherever i go, theyre going to do the same thing. Say, i cant have stuff on the sidewalk. Police had several contacts with moore over the past months, even knew he was a convicted sex offender, but he didnt have an order to keep away from schools as part of his case. But police focused on moore after he posted a sign offering free fentanyl for new users. He told me thursday he was serious. Its not a joke. I watched thursday as police offered him housing and moore refused. I will never voluntarily incarcerate myself. Okay. And i was there one day later when police cited moore for a misdemeanor pc 370, creating a public nuisance. I did everything you told me to do. No, sir. I asked you to abate the situation. The nuisance. You havent, moore was arrested on a probation violation. He had to obey all laws after violating a stay away order obtained by station 31 firefighters to keep moore from camping next to their entrance. Is this trash over here . No. Thats my belongings. Okay, so you want everything bagged and tagged . The captain of richmond station tells me the department is returning to prepandemic policies on the unhoused population enforcing basic laws such as . No camping on a sidewalk. We want to give them the help that they need to get their life in a better place. And for those who are denying that help and are choosing to live on our streets, then were going to use all the enforcement options available to us now that we have that understanding. The designate between voluntarily homeless and involuntarily homeless. During the ride, moore had a medical complaint and went to the hospital. Then police decided to delay pursuing the probation violation. He is out of custody tonight for the iteam in San Francisco. Dan noyes, abc7 news. The safety of postal carriers and your mail is prompting the Postal Service to raise its reward for reporting mail crimes. The reward has been upped from 50,000 to 150,000. This comes after attacks on two mail carriers in San Francisco this week. Criminals are trying to get their hands on the mail key, which would give them the ability to open up mail boxes. The key itself is the object of the robbery in almost every one of these instances, whether its here in the bay area or across the country, theres only one reason to have that key, and its to commit another crime illegal possession of a mail key is a federal crime. The Postal Service recommends we pick up our mail as soon as possible and not to leave it overnight to avoid any risk of theft. Today, Community Leaders in San Franciscos chinatown met with the Municipal Transportation Agency to ask how tourism will be affected during next months Asia Pacific Economic cooperation summit. Heavy security for the summit will close muni lines leading to that area and abc7 News Reporter ryan curry explains how chinatown town plans to deal with that. A vibrant chinatown on friday with locals and tourists crowding the streets. Leaders in this Community Hope it looks even busier once apec starts in november. Its a world known gathering so the whole world is going to be looking at San Francisco this week, sfmta announced numerous street closures and Public Transit changes to make apec as secure as possible, and part of those security measures could limit access to chinatown. On friday, chinatown leaders met with sfmta to talk about how to limit the impact on tourism. Despite the changes, all the regular routes that might be in that area are going to be rerouted. This line built with the intention of making it easier for people to access chinatown. But with one of the biggest conferences coming to San Francisco in decades, this line wont be running. Sfmta has to make adjustments. Well be able to run High Frequency shuttle trains between union square, Market Street station and chinatown. This is very important for us to make sure we maintain strong connectivity to chinatown. In addition to that, sfmta will send text messages, emails and Public Notices to let people know of the changes. Lee, with the Chinatown Merchants Association says they need to make sure anyone traveling from apec to chinatown is aware of the alternate routes she envisions. A lot of people at apec touring the rest of the city, and theyre going to have a cable car over at Moscone Center where people can take pictures. So there that can remind them and say, yeah, come on over to visit the rest of the city. She says apec could bring thousands of people to chinatown, a big boost to the local businesses. She asks everyone to come together to show the beauty of San Francisco. Were probably the most one of the most beautiful cities in the world and we should all take that to our heart. And this is our time. Ryan curry, abc seven news. Still to come at six, probing the possibilities of reusable plastic bags, we investigate whether they can really be used as many times as manufacturers claim. Also here. Governor newsoms whirlwind trip to israel, a visit with californians there affect by the war. Im Chris Alvarez at levis stadium. The 49 ers one year ago traded for Christian Mccaffrey with his teammates are saying about him and an injury update here from levis in a little bit. Im meteorologist sandhya patel. Double digit drop in temperatures today. Next up, showers for the weekend. Ill have the timeline coming up when abc7 news at we made it bmo has arrived. Hello . You said it. Hello to more ways to save money, grow your wealth, grow your business. Just what we needed, another big bank. Not so fast. How many banks do you know that reward you for saving every month . Hes got a good point. Did i mention bmo has more feefree atms than the two largest us banks combined . Uh, bmo . Just beemo, actually. Quick question, will all this stuff fit in your car . should i get rid of the mug . Bmo your brain is an amazing thing. But as you get older, it naturally begins to change, causing a lack of sharpness, or even trouble with recall. Thankfully, the breakthrough in prevagen helps your brain and actually improves memory. The secret is an ingredient originally discovered. In jellyfish. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. At stores everywhere without a prescription. Was. And thats because we were discouraged from using our Reusable Bags out of fear of spreading the virus, prompting people to opt for plastic bags instead. Yeah abc seven News Reporter leanne melendez is here with why people are Still Holding on to those plastic bags. Well, do you remember during covid that you know, you would bring your bags from home and then you would have to bag your groceries out side for fear of contamination . Remember that . Well, you know, some people decided it wasnt worth it, left their bags at home and opted for the heavy duty plastic bags at the store instead. Now, because we are creatures of habit, people still cant say no to those plastic bags. San francisco was the first city in the nation to get rid of single use plastic bags in 2007. In 2014, the rest of the state would also ban the socalled urban tumbleweed overnight. Like at our recycling facility, pier 96. Its like plastic bags just went away and they were no longer a problem. People began embracing the concept of bring your own reusable bag to the market. But the law did allow for stores to offer paper or heavy duty plastic bags, but only if they were considered reusable. But then, because of the fear of spreading the coronavirus for a short period of time, any bags brought from home were not allowed. So during the pandemic, we stopped bringing our own Reusable Bags to the store, and that was important to protect public health. Both ourselves as shoppers, but also to the workers at the stores. The problem now is that some people are having a hard time giving up those heavy duty plastic bags. Is the good thing or not so much so that they dont mind paying extra to use, in some cases, lots of them. Lots of them do you . Okay. So why not bring your bag . Ill try. Ill try to remember that. So. So are these how much did you have to pay for these bags . Im not sure. I dont know. 0. 10. Right here. Oh, really . I think so. The Plastic Industry claims these heavy duty plastic bags can be reused up to 125 times. Thats how, by law, they are allowed to be called reusable. Theyre not necessarily being used as much as the industry claims that they can be. And they are ending up in our landfills. What do you do with those bags after youre done with them . Actually, ive got a stack of them at the house sometime. I use them just Different Things like do you ever throw them away . Yes, once in a while youll find people who say they do use them over and over again. Would you say that you use it . 125 times . Yes. Yes, i do. So heres how they are allowed. Despite the ban on plastic bags, number one, they have to be at least 40 postconsumer material and can be reused. 125 times is not it 100 . Not 150, but 125 times . I have no idea how they came up with that number. Each bag must be able to carry 22 pounds at a distance of 175ft at 125 times. So for the purpose of this experiment, im going to go from point a to point b 125 times how many . Here you go. What . 20 to go hot is it. You can still use it. Its reusable. Oh, it just broke at 125. Ive on the one who was not reusable at the moment. I do think california needs to take a look at that law and make adjustments and do what it was intended to do, which was to do away with all plastic bags kind of thick and or thin. But there is little incentive to do so coming from supermarket and pharmacies because they are allowed to keep the proceeds from the sale of each bag in 2020. San francisco new charge using 0. 10 wasnt enough to keep people from buying them. So the city increased the fee to 0. 25 per bag. Does it bother you that its 0. 25 per bag . I have were in San Francisco and were in california, so it just used to it i just i dont think about it because its about convenience. So meanwhile, the Oakland City Council is considering an ordinance that goes beyond plastic bags. It would ban every kind of single use plastic such as plastic forks, knives, spoons that are typically used with takeout orders. Youre going to ask me if i did it 125 times. You did, right . I absolutely did. I guess we know how they got to that number. It broke on the 125th. We were so surprised when it did what are the chances . Right. Its pretty amazing. Good job. Thanks, liane. Well, today is Better Weather for if youre going to test it, 125, a little bit cooler, cooler. That was pretty taxing. But liane did it. All right. Meteorologist sandhya patel is here with a look at the weekend. Sandy yeah, leon was a trooper, but definitely cooler to do those laps for sure. Dan and lets take a look at a live view right now from san jose, where it is absolutely beautiful and clear at this hour. Notice ably cooler today, 25 degree drop from napa. You went from 95 yesterday to 70 today. Oakland 21 degrees cooler. Look at san jose. I mean, going from 93 to 76, 17 degrees. So yes, we noticed it. And were going to continue to see the cooling trend continuing because we have another system that is heading in our direction. There are some isolated thunderstorms on the nevada side right now. Certainly a lot more cloud cover today and lingering along parts of the coast as the fog. As we look at a live picture from our Golden Gate Bridge camera, its mainly sunny, 60 degrees in San Francisco, mid 60s, oakland, mountain view, 69 in san jose. And youre at 61 in half moon bay. Heres a lovely view from our emeryville camera and you can certainly tell that its a little shaky as the breeze has kicked up 64 in santa rosa and napa right now. Upper 60s concord livermore. One other lovely view from our pier 39 camera as we look at San Francisco, this view is clear. Cooling continues this weekend. Showers arrive on sunday and its going to be dry and warmer. Start out early next week. All right. Energetic wall continues. Its not quite as intense as the last couple of days, but still churning so dangerous conditions along the coast beach hazard statement until 2 a. M. There is an increased risk of rip currents in case youre going out there to the coast to just watch the waves. Be careful. 50 on your temperatures out the door tomorrow morning. Combination of fog and clouds tomorrow afternoon, youre going to see filtered sunshine as clouds will increase throughout the day, mid 60s to mid 70s and breezy along the coast. And then we bring in a light level one system on sunday that will bring us scattered showers. Some slippery roadways, breezy conditions and theres an isolated t