New California 24 hour cancellation refund law (SB 644)

[Gail-and-Beth0]

In response to the passage of California SB 644, AIRBNB’s new policy states:   “To improve the booking experience, Airbnb will apply this 24-hour free cancellation period to all reservations for stays in California.”

California SB 644 applies to bookings at hotels and short term rental properties only; the law explicitly exempts stays of 30 days or more (long term rentals).  Why is AIRBNB applying this new 24 hour cancellation refund to all reservations booked in California, both short and long term?

We do not support this intentional overreach by AIRBNB and further abuse of Host good faith.  The dynamics of long term rentals are ***entirely different*** than those of short term stays; the fall-out and financial peril of a cancellation so very near the arrival date is much greater for the host when a stay is 1-12 months in duration, and potential alternative candidates seeking same/similar durations and timing are unlikely to surface.

After all these years, Airbnb really needs to show that you ‘get it,’ meaning that you understand and support the operations of these properties and the financial parameters within which we work in order to drive revenue.  Why does AIRBNB persist in NOT aligning with state laws?  Why the overreach?  Does AIRBNB know which side its bread is buttered on?  Do you want mid to long term stay business?

As owners of both licensed short term rentals and properties that are restricted by local ordinance to rent for 31 nights or longer (San Diego), it is unreasonable that AIRBNB has unnecessarily blanketed all stays with this new, excessively guest  friendly policy.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Gail-and-Beth0 If Airbnb are giving a 24 hr cancellation post booking this doesn't feel unreasonable except for short notice bookings. If they are saying 24 hrs before the booking starts people can cancel then this feels wrong for long stays.

[Ana2038]

@Gail-and-Beth0 , SB644 states:

“A hosting platform, hotel, third-party booking service, or

short-term rental shall allow a reservation for a hotel accommodation or a

short-term rental located in California to be canceled without penalty for at

least 24 hours after the reservation is confirmed if the reservation is made

72 hours or more before the time of check-in.”

I may be reading this wrong but my understanding is the guest has 24 hr after reservation is confirmed to cancel the bookings without penalty. So if I made a reservation for a booking months prior to my arrival but realized within 24 hrs I wouldn’t be able to follow through, for whatever reason, than I can cancel penalty free regardless if the host had a strict non-refundable policy. 

Anyone else what to chime in?

[Gail-and-Beth0]

This applies to bookings made 72 hours or more before the arrival date.  So if someone books on Wed. for a Sat. arrival, they may cancel with full refund on Thurs.  — 48 hours prior to arrival.

Hardly an impact on short term rental operators, especially those with flexible cancellation policies.  Or for that matter, long term stays booked well in advance of the arrival date (i.e., weeks to months).  We principally rent for long term.  Our concern is that AIRBNB is unnecessarily applying this rule to long term rentals, which the CA law exempts.  We get a lot of long term stays on short notice of the arrival date.  Cancellations 48 hours prior will make it very difficult to get a replacement long term stay, in time.  So we’ll no longer accept long term stay requests within that 72 hour window of arrival date, and will work more so through alternative channels (which also don’t impose the gargantuan service fees to guests for mid to long term stays.)

We use exclusively strict cancellation, which also is why we’re sensitive to this change.  The new rule overrides all cancellation policies.  Those with more flexible cancellation policies may not mind this rule, at all. 

FYI - We will continue to oppose anything that falsely aligns a legal CA tenancy (30 days or more) with a hotel model.