Yes, I just messaged him again:
Hi, XXXXX, I am following up to see if you are still interested to make reservation by agreeing to comply the house rules? Is there anything else I can help with?
He is still not responding…
My pleasure, Amy.
You can always keep communicating with him after declining and then send him an offer to book when you’re comfortable.
I agree with your other statement… I’d rather the house sit empty than have guests that I’m uncomfortable with. 
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yes, something doesn’t feel right with this guest…
He didn’t respond for 3 hours and right after 1 second I declined him, he responded:
Good luck with this I manage over 70 properties on Airbnb and none of this is on your listing. Although I would agree to your terms you need to make it more clear. It actually says you will honor Refunds for COVID & it is Airbnb rules not yours. I Ave tried to fight it & lost.
I don’t understand what does he mean. It looks like he still want to make reservation with me because now he is keep sending me more message talking about his trip… I am so lost, what should I do…
Close the dates on your calendar and advise him that they are are no longer available
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Thanks to both of you, I will block the calendar as Debthecat says to have a peace of mind…
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Just for a couple of days
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Thank you, Debthecat!
He just sent me another message says I didn’t even give him a chance… Actually I had waited for more than 8 hours and have followed up with 4 messages, never heard him back. I guess he finally realized my home is the best deal he can get. But anyway, I have blocked the calendar.
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A couple of years ago I had an inquiry from a potential guest who was requesting something I wasn’t prepared to offer. I forget what it was - kids, dogs, mooring his boat…
We had had a super-polite conversation until that point but once I told him that we weren’t a fit, he was completely vitriolic - “you **** how can you expect to be a ******* host, you ****. I want to give you a totally ******* bad review because you are a ****”
This perfectly lovely (apparently) man had turned into a ****** in front of my eyes.
It happens. 
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So far, I am a little bit luckier that he is civil and I would like to think he is a good guy, but just doesn’t feel like to agree to other’s house rules. So I text back to him:
Guests’ agreement to comply my house rules is very important to me. Since I didn’t hear from you, actually I had waited so many hours and sent you follow up messages. Wish I will have chance to host you in the future. I will do my best to make your stay enjoyable! Good luck!
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He means that the wording in your listing saying you will honor refunds for Covid is pointless because Covid is already covered under the extenuating circumstances policy and Airbnb refunds for that anyway. I take it he means he tried to fight Airbnb giving refunds for guests claiming Covid, but he was not successful.
If you feel like it, post a link to your listing here so other hosts here could maybe give you some pointers as to anything you might word differently or why he is saying that things aren’t clear.
He might just be a doofus, but perhaps things actually aren’t clear.
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Good job! You’re doing the right thing…listening to your gut and following the many wise replies here.
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You dodged a bullet. Don’t accept any future requests from him. He appears to be one of those people who always has to be right and always has to “win.” Poor guest material.
It’s a good bet that with his “expertise,” he would find numerous things lacking with your rental space to lecture you about.
I had a persistent messenger who wanted to intermittently rent my suite for a week every month. Renting to anyone 30 days or more, whether consecutive or not, is a violation of my local STR permit. Yet he kept arguing and arguing and (idiot) suggested on the platform that we go off platform.
After the whatever iteration of “No means no,” I stopped responding.
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Just. Say. No.
I wouldn’t want the 100 listing worker for a property management aggregator who says he can’t find the House Rules when that’s literally his job - making sure HIS guests can find the HR and agree to them.
If it’s a request, let it expire. OR send him a Special Offer at $1,000 a night and don’t forget to add up all the nights and then send the offer as your total. Five nights, $5,000, etc.
Why? It’s YOUR home, YOUR rules. Even grandma, when visiting, agrees to the family’s house rules.
You’re running a business.
That explains the scammer. Report him to ABB
Hopefully you meant text message THROUGH THE APP. Never outside ABB. Ever.
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You’re a new host and you’ll get over the “he’s probably a nice guy…” feeling. Anyone who throws their weight around “I manage over 70 listings…” isn’t nice. And won’t be when you get him in the place.
There’s a button for a special offer. Send a ridiculously high one and of course they won’t accept. You’ve managed your response time, you’ve managed moving on to other things to do with your time IRL, and you won’t get dinged for basically declining him.
If it was an inquiry instead of a request, block a couple of days in the middle of his time.
And he’s bringing up Covid. Meaning he’ll block your calendar and then demand a refund.
Bullet dodged and never say you hope to host them some other time. Say “My listing requirements include guests agreeing in writing to the House Rules. I sent several texts without hearing back. I’m sure you will find a listing more suited to your needs.”
And never say you’ll do your best to make a stay enjoyable. That’s a given but it opens you up to ALL his unreasonable demands and a bad review.
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@Amy_nyma
What does “nice” mean, anyway? Lots of people are nice as long as everything goes their way. Ignoring all your messages until he saw you had declined means he is certainly receiving notifications, he just didn’t feel he had to respond to you in a timely manner, which is the opposite of nice.
It’s important to separate the “business Amy” from the “everyday Amy” or you will end up letting guests walk all over you. It will also interfere in you leaving honest reviews for guests you wouldn’t welcome back, because you will feel conflicted about mentioning that the guests left a filthy mess behind them if you found them friendly and “nice”.
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Well said. While I had a twinge of the “gosh I feel a bit guilty about this review” on a couple of past guests, they earned their low stars and reviews stating that their communication issues and inability to follow simple house rules would not get them a return stay. Do I feel badly about the guest who flaunted her breaking my rules by giving her 1* everywhere and taking her from a 5* rating to 3.5? No. She was “nice to my face” while being an entitled brat. I’ve already raised my children through their defiant phases. Don’t put yourself there again.
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I think it’s human nature, unless one is a hard-nosed person, to feel reticent to give an honest review when you need to warn other hosts of poor guest behavior.
It’s important to keep in mind that we aren’t reviewing them as a person, but as to their suitablility as a guest. They might be super friendly, have a great sense of humor and be someone you would actually enjoy hanging out with socially, but if they are super messy and don’t clean up after themselves, they might not be good guest material.
I had a friend rent my guest room for 3 months years ago. I totally enjoy her company, she’s a lovely, intelligent, interesting person. But I found her incredibly irritating to live with because she’s quite absent minded and not at all detail oriented or observant.
She was cooking and making sprouts to sell in the farmer’s market. She left a tea towel on top of a boiling pot of garbanzo beans and it caught on fire. You’d think she would have learned from that, but she did it again with a pot holder.
She’d grate a bunch of carrots for the salad she made to sell and run off to the market with her wares, and I’d find grated carrots all over the kitchen backsplash and wall, and in the dish drainer. She hung bags of soaked beans to drain in the shower stall, which stained the grout. She hates dealing with keys, so would just leave the key in the outside of the door lock, which renders locking the door pointless and any thief could walk right in or steal the keys.
So while I still really enjoy hanging out with her, I wouldn’t be keen to have her stay again for more than a night or two.
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thanks you so much for the advices. I’ve blocked the dates that he requested. I will open that up next week or so.
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I will keep that in mind! thank you so much, muddy!