As an update, late the night this happened, my husband told the renter we were disturbed buy how many people showed up, and the renter said he knew he had over done it, and that we would talk about it the next day. We went next door the next day and the renter was out on the lake, but his wife said they would come over when he got back. They came over shortly after that and said they thought it was okay to have people over, I told them I didn't know how they could have thought that, and showed them the contract stipulation of no more than 6 non-overnight guests in addition to the 2 adults/2 children they had advised would be there. We told them we had septic system overload concerns, and how they needed to conserve what they put down the system. They advised they were doing so and then suggested as they lived only 30 minutes away, that they would have everyone, after dinner, come sleep at their home and then come back in the morning. This is a satisfactory resolution for us, but I will still be deducting the per person extra charge for their first night stay. Hopefully there won't be any damage that puts us in the hole. We inspected the property after they left last night and it is in remarkably good shape for the number of people there, other than towel usage, so I guess we got extremely lucky. They haven't showed back up yet today, but I imagine they will soon. They depart on the fifth.

What a learning experience. Our first renter handed us the bathroom door knob (saying it had fallen off) while they said they always try to leave a place just like they found it. Upon later inspection, we saw the bolts had been sheared off. We think their teenagers were vying for the bathroom and broke it off in the struggle. They also walked over to our dock to do their sunbathing without asking if it was okay, forget the liability issues.

I now advise renters that all the properties on the lake in both directions are privately owned, so even if they may not appear to be occupied, for liability issues they need to confine their fun to their 1 1/2 acres and the covered dock that is part of their rental.

Because of the current situation I know I will be seriously questioning all future renters regarding the number in their party, though I think this may turn out all right. All feedback welcome as I feel like such a novice at this.          

I wish you luck, our group is still leaving at night, but just now when we inspected the place, two of the blades of the ceiling fan in the master bedroom were broken off. Some how I have survived over a century and never broken the blade off a ceiling fan. One more day and a half of this joy. Since they hadn't spent the night, but one night out of three so far, I had thought about not charging my extra person fee for that first night, but the point becomes moot when I figure a new ceiling fan out of the deposit, so much for giving any one a break. Let me know how your situation comes out.