Airbnb contract language protections for host

[Kathy899]

Just read the contract (which I failed to do when I signed up for hosting).

Airbnb lawyers gave themselves pretty much carte blanche to change the contract anytime they saw fit (this contract is not worth the screen it appears upon).

However, modification does require a 30-day notice to users.  So can they just use the extenuating circumstance policy to wiggle out of their own cancellation policies?

With the Extenuating Circumstances policy now being extended to May 30, I am going to lose over $8,000.  And no, 25% refund will not cover my mortgage and HOA dues.  

I really think hosts have an opportunity to try and enforce that 30-day notice clause.   Sure, I feel badly for the guests who lose money, but that is discretionary income.  Hosts' money is survival income.  And guests should always, always buy "cancel for any reason" trip insurance.

[Pilar1]

First of all I am sympathetic with your situation, I’m also a host who relied on AirBnB as my primary source of income and have also had cancellations or been unable to accept new ones (self isolating for health issues) since the beginning of the month;  as much as that hurts I think it’s the responsible thing to do (except to host key or medical staff) I don’t know if I will quality for the Relief Fund so I’ll have to sit and wait, but not holding my breath as it’s virtually impossible to know who will fulfill their criteria and there are thousands, if not millions in the same situation.

Now, you say: guests should always, always buy "cancel for any reason" trip insurance And also: guests may lose money, but that is discretionary income. So, please be honest and tell me something, did you buy ”cancel for any reason” insurance for your past trips? All of them?  And, how do you know that it’s discretionary income for the traveller? Don’t you think they may have been saving for years to afford that trip and they may have just lost their job and now need every penny available to survive the next few months? 

Every situation is unique and each claim  should be evaluated individually but I don’t think there’s a company in the world able to do that in the present circumstances. 
As you point out we all signed a contract with AirBnB and unfortunately gave away many rights in order to be able to use the platform, no one forced us to stay so if we did I assume it’s because we benefited from it one way or another. I’m sure that if there’s a flaw in that contract there will be many legal minds already working to find it but in the meantime we need to abide by the imposed guidelines. I for one will be very happy if the current date to apply the Covid extenuating circumstances doesn’t need to be extended again.

[Kathy899]

To answer your question, yes, I buy cancel-for-any reason trip insurance for all my trips in which it would be painful to lose the amount invested.  I started this practice after I lost $3,000 when my dad became ill right before a trip and I stayed home to care for him.  To not buy such a policy implies that you are comfortable with that much risk of loss.   Anyone who rents my place has arrived by plane, and all airline sites offer travel insurance.  Airbnb should also offer a link to travel insurance websites where guests could shop and compare different plans.   Hosts should not have to bear the burden of guests' failure to plan carefully.

[Helen3]

Sorry but you are wrong to assume that when a guest pays for a booking it is 'discretionary income'. Many save for a long time to be able to afford their stay @Kathy899 

Whether or not a guest has travel insurance is irrelevant as this pandemic is not covered.

Does your STR home insurance cover loss of income due to the pandemic?

Bottom line when you choose to set up an STR business where you are dependant on income, then you need to save some of your profits to get you through the slow times. Many suggest six months cover makes good business sense.

This is not down to a guests failure to plan carefully. How would you expect them to plan for something that has never happened in our life time before.

[Ashley678]

my heart breaks for those who are losing their homes, the animals and children... this just hurts my heart , truly. 

[Anonymous]

@Kathy899  I do agree with you that when the circumstances that cause the cancellation occur on the customer's side of the transaction, the customer is ethically obliged to either accept the loss or buy proper insurance.

But what does a guest owe the host when the circumstances make it impossible for the host to fulfill the terms of the contract? Hosts in quarantined locations generally can't deliver the services even if the guest doesn't cancel, so I don't really see a good case for keeping any of the payment. 

I truly hope you can keep your home and come through this crisis with a roof over your family's head. But from one self-employed person to another, I don't find it very effective to present the place my own financial risks have left me as the client's problem.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Kathy899 

However, modification does require a 30-day notice to users.  So can they just use the extenuating circumstance policy to wiggle out of their own cancellation policies?

The regular Extenuating Circumstances has no date specific Disease clause. Only the Covid-19 EC has an 'applicable period' and Covid-19 is only covered specifically by that revision. The regular Extenuating Circumstances can only be used in this current situation under the 'Transport' clause and the applications in place there. It is between these two clauses which  Corvid-19 is being handled.

The 30 day notice is applicable to TOS, but not specifically to Covid-19 EC.

Arguably, overriding the Hosts cancellation policy is an action contravening the TOS.

This clause specifically for Guests:

8.1.2 Upon receipt of a booking confirmation from Airbnb, a legally binding agreement is formed between you and your Host, subject to any additional terms and conditions of the Host that apply, including in particular the applicable cancellation policy and any rules and restrictions specified in the Listing.

This clause for note for Hosts:

7.1.3 Any terms and conditions included in your Listing, in particular in relation to cancellations, must not conflict with these Terms or the relevant cancellation policy for your Listing.

@Kathy899 

With the Extenuating Circumstances policy now being extended to May 30, I am going to lose over $8,000.  And no, 25% refund will not cover my mortgage and HOA dues.  

I hate to say that you should only expect 25% of that refund you would expect with your cancellation policy in place. Thus, 50% refund policy at 25% refund will only provide 12.5% booking refund.

I am totally with you on the illegal override of the hosts cancellation policy until it is illustrated elsewhere to the contrary.

[Kathy899]

Well, that is totally depressing.  At least 25% was groceries.  12.5% is nothing.  And Airbnb is getting all this good press from its "generous help" toward hosts.  The public won't get or understand the fine print....

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Kathy899 

You can legitimately and factually contact your future guests with the key points if you so wish.

[Paul60]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  Hi Ian what do you mean by 'The regular Extenuating Circumstances has no date specific Disease clause.'  If I recall did the regular extenuating circumstances policy not refer to an endemic?  

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Paul60 

Yes the original EC did refer to 'endemic' and not 'pandemic' or 'epidemic'. But it was changed. Most bookings would only be covered by the 'endemic' version.

Regarding the Disease clause, the EC (now) states 'Epidemic disease or illness'. I find it irregular that a 'Covid policy' in place for a specific disease would need to be wholly or partially changed in action or consequence when dates are extended or changed. That doesn't then stand as a policy, its just 'make it up' time. It is discriminatory too to have guests or hosts treated differently under exactly the same circumstances. Stating (dates) "will be determined based on announcements by the World Health Organization and local authorities" Would need scrutiny about what announcements affected EC - and in what way .

[Mika8]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  .. are you familiar with law?

Under EC situations airbnb should give the money back to the guest in cash. If there is no EC, guests and hosts gets money (in cash) accorging to the cancellation policy.

Now .. airbnb created something new Corona-EC .... where they give travel credit with an expiring date instead of cash .. are they really allowed to do that with money which was designated to the host?  ... and the host get's only the oh-please-be-happy-that-aribnb-is-that-nice-12.5%

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Mika8 

 No, I'm not unfortunately.

I am quite capable of reading Terms and TOS, the EC policy and the Corona-EC and recognising the actions taken by Airbnb are outside of those policies in many cases and many examples exist.

Providing travel vouchers does need to be stated if thats the case.

I extrapolated the combined EC and Covid-EC policy and points above:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Host-Circle/Airbnb-contract-language-protections-for-host/m-p/12...

- The regular Extenuating Circumstances has no date specific Disease clause.

- Only the Covid-19 EC has an 'applicable period' and Covid-19 is only covered specifically by that revision.

- The regular Extenuating Circumstances can only be used in this current situation and current form under the 'Transport' clause and the applications in place there.

The most recent cancellation I had was cited that “the guest could not travel”, which in this case would be correct. I will however be investigating previous cases where guests COULD travel and this reason was cited.

I have asked the simple question about the legitimacy of Airbnb changing Hosts cancellation policies and where in the Terms this has been stated. During what seemed like an active conversation with Customer Services, messages suddenly just stopped.

[Mika8]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  .. thank you for your answer.

Me too, I haven't found anything in the TOS (incl. the payment aggreement) which enables airbnb to hold the money which has been designated to the host.

As the WHO defined the situation as worldwide pandemic for me is it ok, that EC puts in. We all (have to) accept this when we like to join airbnb (although, for the normal incidents which falls under the EC, I don't see the need for EC at all, for this exists travel insurance).

But .. if it falls under EC .. then the guest should get the whole amount in cash .. and if it not falls under EC then the cancellation policy kicks in (for myself, I would not insist of the 50 %, but probably split this half half with the guest). ... so .. where is the legacy for this new 'rule' that the host's gets nothing and the guests get only a voucher with an expiring date? .. and does the guest have to use this voucher completely with one further booking? (as we have to do it with the superhost bonus, or could the guest split the voucher?).

I know, that airbnb could anytime change their rules .. but only with 30 days notice, and then we could agree or not to it...

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Kathy899 

Even if guests have CFAR travel insurance..... it wouldn't help hosts with covid-19 cancellations. It's surprising to see how many people have no idea what travel insurance actually covers. 

I'm sure there will be differences depending on insurance  company and other details but even with CFAR, there are certain conditions that need to be met to get coverage. In addition, some countries/states don't have CFAR travel insurance. 

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/travel-insurance/cancel-for-any-reason/

https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/covid-19-faq.htm

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/06/success/travel-insurance-coronavirus/index.html