When hosts seek advice about how to screen guests and anticipate how a stay will go, I always say that the best indication is going to be in the quality of the correspondence. This is especially important for in-home hosts; not only do you want to know that they comprehend your listing text and rules, you also need to be able to communicate effectively with them throughout their stay. An initial request that conveys no useful information can be a bit of a red flag, but sometimes a follow-up question is enough to put the conversation on track and make an educated decision about whether your listing is an appropriate fit for the guest's needs.
But how do you handle a guest when they insist on writing to you in a language that they have no logical reason to assume you speak? And when they don't seem to understand your follow-up questions?
My instinct in these situations is to decline, because I'd rather have a vacancy than risk a stressful situation or uncomfortable misunderstandings. But I fear that doing so could be interpreted as discrimination; even though language is not a protected category, you could say it overlaps with nationality. I'm struggling to find an inoffensive way to tell someone that I'm uncomfortable hosting them because they're too hard to communicate with. Any thoughts?
