Homeless Host and Airbnb Extenuating Circumstances

[Laura2592]

I am posting this for a friend who is a fellow host and does not want to be identified/guests who might wander across the thread to be aware of this situation.

Host is losing their place to live at the end of June. Seems that due to COVID-19 the owners of her building are selling to avoid foreclosure (both suffered job losses) and they just got an offer. They do not want to be landlords any more due to the rent forgiveness and just need to get out of their investment and move on before the bank takes it. The host owns their Airbnb and was planning on cancelling stays and moving there for about a month--  this Airbnb is about an hour from host's primary residence. Host has pets and a special needs child which makes finding a temporary place to stay difficult. Host's SO also has been laid off due to COVID-19 and host lives in a high cost area. Their Airbnb is the only financially feasible place to live. Host and her family will be able to move in with another family member who is purchasing a new home and has space. The new home is not ready until August.

Host called Airbnb to explain the situation and ask for a reprieve due to extenuating circumstances. Host has 4 short stays she would have to cancel. Airbnb said they would delist her as its over 3 stays in a year that she would cancel, and that this does not meet the criteria for "extenuating circumstances." Host is a superhost, has been on Airbnb for years. Its mind boggling that given the situation, Airbnb would prefer a homeless host. 

Any advice on what this person should do?

[Lisa723]

@Laura2592 I would keep calling. I would also get in touch with the guests and explain the situation, with the hope of being able to tell Airbnb the cancellations are mutually agreed upon.

[Sue251]

I agree, call AIrbnb again and speak to someone else. Becoming homeless with a child is extenuating circumstances in my book.  Airbnb let me cancel bookings free of charge or penalty when family member suddenly became homeless due to a domestic situation and needed my rooms.

[PaddySeventeen0]

@Laura2592

IIf any of your friend's bookings have a check-in date before July 15 they should be covered, without charge. 

Extenuating Circumstances policy - updated today (June 1)

Reservations for stays and Airbnb Experiences made on or before March 14, 2020, with a check-in date between March 14, 2020 and July 15, 2020, may be canceled before check-in. This means that guests who cancel under the policy will receive a full cash refund or travel credit in the amount they paid (where travel credit is available), hosts can cancel under the policy without charge or impact to their Superhost status, and Airbnb will either refund, or issue travel credit in an amount that includes, all service fees.

This also means of course, that guests can now also cancel up to July 15 under the EC policy 

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  You know you can post in the Host Circle section and guests can't access that. But I don't see that there's any need for the host to be identified, anyway.

I would second contacting the guests and explaining the situation. They may be totally sympathetic and do the cancelling themselves as long as they are guaranteed a full refund.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Laura2592 

So.... if I understand correctly, your friend (host) is losing her home and is therefore planning to cancel future bookings in order to move into the listing herself? Hmmmm...... I can sort of see how this might NOT be seen as an extenuating circumstance. While I understand the part about losing her home, plus challenges to finding an appropriate temporary place to stay and having nowhere else to go, in the end, fact is that your friend wants to cancel future bookings so she can use the place herself. If the listing was being sold, it would totally be an EC but in this case..... kind of a grey area imo. 

Has your friend tried contacting the 4 guests? To explain the situation and ask them if they'd agree to a mutual cancellation? As long as the guests do not experience any financial loss (including fees) I don't see why they wouldn't be sympathetic to your friends situation and agree to the cancellation - this may mean (worst case scenario) your friend might have to be willing to cover the cost of the guest service fee if the guests are not able to get the service fee back from Airbnb but I think it's worth looking into. 

As a guest, if my booking got cancelled with no prior explanation from the host why.... I'd be pretty upset. Finding an Airbnb that suits my needs (price/location/amenities) is usually way more work than booking a hotel - so having to find an alternate place to stay would be a significant inconvenience. Knowing the situation, hearing from the host would help the guest understand, and if it were me of course I'd understand, be sympathetic, and agree to cancel, but I'd still feel like I wasted my time and I would not be looking forward to having to start the search to find a place to stay AGAIN. 

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  If your friend knows other hosts in the area of her listing who have comparable places to hers, it might help make the guests more amenable to cancelling if she let them know about some alternatives if they are available for the dates in question.

[Laura2592]

All--

Just a note to say that the host was able to cancel her stays without the involvement of Airbnb. They refused to help her despite the fact that she showed ample documentation that she would be homeless.  She contacted each guest and explained. Only one (who was a fellow host) raked her over the coals about it and gave her a very hard time/refused to cancel. So she canceled that stay. She will lose SH status but that is better than being homeless. 

Sorry @Jessica-and-Henry0  but as a person who owns several properties I can't understand why a homeowner's rights are inferior to a guest who spends maybe an hour searching for accommodation. I understand that this situation is in no way ideal. But if it were me, I would absolutely not feel badly about taking over the space myself. If I paid taxes, mortgage and did upkeep on this space, and needed it because of an extreme black swan series of events, the minor inconvenience someone might have on finding a new place for a vacation would really rank far down on my list of concerns. I have had many a host cancel for no reason with plenty of notice. I only get upset if they cancel when I am en route to the location. There are plenty of other places to book. 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Laura2592 

I never mentioned homeowner's rights or one being inferior to another. Your post seems to reiterate my point exactly that IMO in general, someone else's inconvenience (however serious) will always rank far down on most people's list of concerns. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Laura2592 

Your friend now has the the ability to cancel penalty free until 31st July. It would be unfortunate if dates needed to be cancelled within this time frame and were already done. The change date was July 15th. Had your friend been a Guest, most definitely, the CX would have advised to wait until the policy changed before actually cancelling.

Too often, hosts are too considerate towards their guests and the recent Covid, faux Covid, and aspirational Covid cancellations with full Airbnb support should have brought matters home about the level of regard Guests and Airbnb have for Hosts. Nothing short of your friend, legitimately cancelling penalty free at the last minute would be a more deserved action.