There's always a first time for everything. I've never written or received a negative Airbnb review. But there is no avoiding it in this case. There's no other way to say it: Laura Christine is a scammer. She claims that her vaguely worded house rules allow her to charge you to have DAYTIME guests at your longterm rental because of Airbnb and city tax requirements. Skeptical, I contacted both Airbnb and the city to question this. Not only is this not true of either party, but the tax bureau is unhappy with the fact that Laura Christine is using city taxes as an excuse to charge and pocket bogus fees. I confirmed with Laura Christine that she did indeed intend this to apply to dinner guests of just a few hours. That's right- friends can't come in to visit, grandparents can't come by- not without you paying Laura Christine $25 per person (though she graciously offered to let me pay the low price of $10 per person). When pushed back against, she engaged in a repetitive word salad- she copied and pasted the same message multiple times, doubling down on her claims and refusing to even acknowledge what I had discovered. When I had (NOT overnight) guests over without paying her fees, she had my family evicted. How did she know I had people over? Was she watching us? That is still unclear (because she refused to discuss it), and unsettling. Laura Christine never discussed the eviction with me- she had Airbnb call in the middle of the night to announce that our visit had been cancelled and we were to leave immediately. She then refused to discuss the issue any further- again copying and pasting the same message demanding that we leave, and rapidly progressing to threats of police reports. To be clear, I never refused to leave, I only asked for more information about the grounds for eviction (which seems only reasonable in such a situation). Obviously, it's unreasonable to ask a family of four with months of food, belongings, etc to move out in a day. While I wasn't concerned that the police would care about this case, at that point, I was ready to be done dealing with Laura Christine, and frankly I was paranoid that she was watching us.
I live in this neighborhood (we rented the house during a remodel). I know the neighbors on this street, who have documented years of irrational interactions so I know that my experience is indicative of typical behavior for this individual. Not to mention that the house is in poor condition- exterior paint is flaking, the addition to the house is sinking, the electrical is far from code, the plumbing required plunging multiple times weekly (poor plumbing is not a new or unknown issue based on neighbor reports of frequent plumber visits)- it really goes on and on. The listing photos and description are falsified- this home is NOT recently remodeled, does NOT have a grassy yard, and does not mention that central AC costs $40 per day (in a town that has had record deadly heat waves in the past several years).
I haven't even mentioned the fact that Laura Christine tried to charge me 3-4 times the regular rate to enter the home a day early. She claimed this was because it was a Wednesday before a holiday weekend (Labor Day) when I was already renting the house. And then there's the joint we found left in the home in ready reach of our kids and pet; Laura Christine was the previous occupant.
In short, believe all the negative reviews you read about this home/homeowner. At best, she's unethical. At worst, she's committing fraud. And she's certainly doing no favors to the Airbnb brand.