I am a superhost but unexpectedly lost my own housing and have a child. What are my options?

Veerle8
Level 2
Penobscot, ME

I am a superhost but unexpectedly lost my own housing and have a child. What are my options?

I unfortunately unexpectedly lost my own housing and have a child living with me.
I have nowhere to go right now.I will need my rental back ASAP.
I have about 8 or 9 bookings coming up. What are my options? What can I do?
I am a superhost, worked so hard this past year to become one.
I feel horrible about possibly having to cancel all those reservations...but what are my options??
THis is a bad situation for my child and myself and I need help! Any advice greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

5 Replies 5
Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Veerle8 

Veerle, how did you lose your property? was it the result of a tornado or some natural disaster, or was it the result of property management who found out you were short term renting and terminated your lease?

If this loss of yours was by a natural occurence you can call Airbnb support and explain your situation, cancel all your upcoming reservations and then have Airbnb classify the cancellations as having occured under extenuiating circumstances. That way you will be released from those bookings without any penalty. Loss of property (not sale) is an acceptable situation for cancellation under extenuating circumstances.

 

I hope it is not the other reason though and you have been operating an STR without approval. If that is the case I am sorry to say you may have difficulty getting a successful outcome.

 

One thing I have found helpful to my hosting Veerle, I have formed good relationships with other hosts in my area, and occasionally we do take over each others bookings. I have two coming up later this month for one host who has unfortunately been diagnosed with breast cancer, and I am taking over her bookings  while she is having treatment. It may pay to try and go down this path and relocate your future reservations, rather than just cancel them. You can't just arange for another host to take your reservations, but customer support can achieve it for you!

Try to give us a bit more detail and we might be able to better assist you!

 

Cheers.....Rob

HI Robin:

No, I have not done anything illegal or without approval. I did not lose my Airbnb Rental.... I lost my own place due to unexpected circumstances. 

I canceled my first reservation and unfortunately lost my SuperHOst status but this will give me some time to find a new place for my son and myself.

I am hoping to be able to keep all my other reservations for this summer. Just needed some more time to find a place to live for us. This will give me an extra 2 weeks. I hated canceling even one reservation and sad that I had to lose my Superhost status after all my hard work. Thankfully the guests were really great about it.  I guess....life is unpredictable at times and losing my SuperHost status is the least of my worry right now.

I sent you a PM. Thank you, Robin.

Veerle

Ann72
Level 10
New York, NY

@Veerle8 So you have had to move into the place you have been renting out on Airbnb?  I pieced that together from your post above and from the comment you wrote in response to "The host cancelled this reservation" on your profile page.

 

It appears you live in Penobscot and your Airbnb is in Orland.  Surely between Penobscot and Orland there are places for rent, at least temporarily, for you and your son?

 

My advice is don't panic and try to find another place to live so you can keep your bookings.  In the meantime @Robin4 's advice about getting to know other hosts in the area is very good.  My listings are in Sedgwick, probably too far from Orland for your upcoming guests, but there are plenty of other Airbnb hosts around.  Message me if you want to talk.

Thank you, Ann. Will send you a pm. 

Veerle

Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

@Veerle8, try to keep your existing reservations if you can; summertime in Maine is a great opportunity to make some extra money. Can you stay at other, less expensive, Airbnb's while the guests rent your space? Your son might enjoy the little "vacations." What about camping for a weekend?