CARMEL, Ind. — A small neighborhood in Carmel is speaking out about what they are calling a problematic short-term rental property. The most recent incident happened over the weekend.
“We come out and there are several emergency vehicles pulling people out of the house. All of them are unconscious,” said Christin Diehl, who lives in this community.
This all happened after 8 p.m. on Saturday when neighbors said they saw medics take multiple people out on stretchers from this home who were transported to local hospitals.
Carmel police have not yet said what happened inside the home but neighbors described seeing police search the home for quite some time.
“I mean it was scary,” Diehl said. “My kids are here and you know, you think why this happened and that means there's some sketchy stuff going on inside that house.”
The City of Carmel released a statement regarding the incident from over the weekend:
“We are concerned about the medical emergency that occurred at a residence in our community this past weekend. We recognize how distressing this incident has been for local residents. The home where this occurred was operating as an illegal short-term rental as the city does not allow non owner-occupied rentals. The city has also had multiple conversations with the owner about the illegality of this rental property prior to this incident. Further information is still being collected which may lead to additional enforcement action from the city, including reviewing our code enforcement practices.”
FOX59/CBS4 also learned the home is in violation of the Cheswick Place Homeowners Association covenants which has now led to a lawsuit by the HOA.
“To my knowledge, this person or this entity that purchased this property did not comply with our covenants,” said David Morton, the president of Cheswick Place Homeowners Association. “They were notified they were in violation. They did not respond. A lawsuit is actively in place and that's going through the legal channels process.”
Neighbors said the problems at this property have been going on for months.
“Basically since it's been rented, since the new owner bought it maybe February or March,” Diehl said. “They rent to large groups. They market to events and gatherings, and seem not to have any restrictions on how many people they let stay here.”
And going forward, they hope something will be done sooner rather than later with this problematic rental property.
“I just want it to stop,” Diehl said. “Now this is happening, it's a nightmare. I just want it to go back to our peaceful neighborhood that it was.”
FOX59/CBS4 is still working on getting in touch with the owner of the property.