We arrived at this property with our two year old & six year old…my husband went to pick up the groceries I had pre-ordered. The kids & I stayed behind to unpack. As I looked around the place, I saw a lot of electrical outlets without face plates, & noticed some lights not working in the basement. I messaged the owner who said the light bulb WAS working in the basement, because she had walked thru earlier. I told her the recessed bulbs were out. The more I saw, the more I realized this was not a safe place for my family. The smoke alarm has been removed from the first floor near the kitchen, and there was an outlet with no face plate right next to the sink. Many of the light fixtures had no shades on them…& I saw multiple holes in the walls, & a ceiling light was shortened with a zip tie to hold it in place.
We called VRBO who contacted the owner & told them to process a refund so VRBO could help us find a new place. My kids were hungry so we started to make them dinner, while I was on the phone w/ VRBO, and my husband unloaded our groceries into the fridge while we waited for instructions from VRBO on where to go next. VRBO said they needed to call the owner again & have them process the cancellation so we would also be refunded taxes & fees.
At this point we were on hold, & saw some messages from the owner about an electrician coming. VRBO said that we did not have to stay even if the issues were resolved. The owner also messaged us to vacate the premises after the reservation was canceled. While still on hold with VRBO (who was trying to contact the owner but couldn’t get in touch with her), we heard someone knocking at the door. It was the property owner. She insisted we show her the electrical problem areas. I replied “that is a you problem…not an us problem” since we were trying to leave by finalizing our new lodging with VRBO, feeding our kids, and packing our groceries back up. She then told us we had canceled and had to leave…we asked her for an hour to finalize things with VRBO…so she said she was contacting the police.
A few moments later the police were at our door. We let them know about the situation, and they asked how much time we needed to get out. At that moment, VRBO finalized our new hotel, so we told them we could be out in twenty. The owner hovered nearby in her car the whole time.
It’s amazing to us that this listing is still available, as it is illegal to rent a house that’s not up to fire code in this county.