Canadian Rental Cancellations Due to COVID 19

[Maureen111]

I am a Canadian who is sadly cancelling my rental for 2021due to Covid 19 and travel restrictions etc. The owner of the home refuses to answer my texts emails and phone calls. I have paid 1/2 the money. The contract states we will only get that money back if he Rerents the property. I understand that. But to not answer me for the past 3 months is very rude!! We rented last year from this owner as well.
Any thoughts or or help with this would be appreciated.

[davem4616]

Certainly a bummer, especially given that you've rented from this individual previously.

You terminated the deal. He's moved on.

If it were me I'd let it go and move on too (and hope that he re-rents the place for the same time that you had contracted for...and honors his side of the agreement)

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

First I would like to know why you are trying to contact him , is it because you are trying to get all your money back, maybe that’s why he had not answered.I have mine rented for next winter , no refunds at all . If the people canceled I would text them sorry and good luck

[Nucky]

I am a Canadian who is sadly cancelling my rental for 2021due to Covid 19 and travel restrictions etc. The owner of the home refuses to answer my texts emails and phone calls. I have paid 1/2 the money. The contract states we will only get that money back if he Rerents the property. I understand that. But to not answer me for the past 3 months is very rude!! We rented last year from this owner as well.
Any thoughts or or help with this would be appreciated.

There is a chance that the landlord is Hospitalized or in some state of disrepair at this time. With the Pandemic and all, it is possible. :pray:

[Stu from NYC]

I am a Canadian who is sadly cancelling my rental for 2021due to Covid 19 and travel restrictions etc. The owner of the home refuses to answer my texts emails and phone calls. I have paid 1/2 the money. The contract states we will only get that money back if he Rerents the property. I understand that. But to not answer me for the past 3 months is very rude!! We rented last year from this owner as well.
Any thoughts or or help with this would be appreciated.

Do not know when in 2021 your rental is but it is possible the world will be in a better place by than.

[PoolBrews]

I would think that if your renters are not allowed to travel here based on restrictions in place (i.e. nothing they can do about it), any monies should be refunded. In this case, since it is not known if there will be restriction in place for travel in 2021, and you are trying to cancel now, I would think that the original agreement is valid.

[billethkid]

Using 2020 restrictions for a situation one year away is most likely not an acceptable cause for cancel.

[Clarinet]

I am a Canadian who is sadly cancelling my rental for 2021due to Covid 19 and travel restrictions etc. The owner of the home refuses to answer my texts emails and phone calls. I have paid 1/2 the money. The contract states we will only get that money back if he Rerents the property. I understand that. But to not answer me for the past 3 months is very rude!! We rented last year from this owner as well.
Any thoughts or or help with this would be appreciated.
We had a similar situation regarding a trip to Ireland that we had partially paid for. CIE tours refused to refund the 25% down payment even though both the US and Ireland had closed the borders. Trip itself was eventually cancelled but too bad - no refund. Hopefully people will take note of those businesses and individuals who won't make "fair" decisions. Hope Canada and Us will open borders in time for your scheduled rental.

[Bass56]

The vaccines are due to be available by end of 2020. Give that a chance to change things.

[Kilmacowen]

You shouldn't have booked if you pay attention to Dr. Fauci. No it is not a hoax and it will not just go away.

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

There is travel insurance available for all trips , I don’t understand people in our age bracket not taking it, also I rent my home through home away and another agency both offer insurance, when I rent in Miami Beach it Hawaii for winters I always take insurance .

[HIgolfers]

There is travel insurance available for all trips , I don’t understand people in our age bracket not taking it, also I rent my home through home away and another agency both offer insurance, when I rent in Miami Beach it Hawaii for winters I always take insurance .

Almost all travel insurance excludes cancellations due to Pandemics.

[charmed59]

I’m surprised he hasn’t refunded your money. I have some rentals here in the villages and have refunded fully those who either cannot or do not feel comfortable coming at this point in time. For winter next year there should be no trouble re-renting. Have you checked the website you found the rental on to see if it has been put back up and is available?

[retiredguy123]

I am a Canadian who is sadly cancelling my rental for 2021due to Covid 19 and travel restrictions etc. The owner of the home refuses to answer my texts emails and phone calls. I have paid 1/2 the money. The contract states we will only get that money back if he Rerents the property. I understand that. But to not answer me for the past 3 months is very rude!! We rented last year from this owner as well.
Any thoughts or or help with this would be appreciated.
I agree that the owner is being rude and irresponsible to not answer your messages and calls. While the contract is a bit vague as to your right to a refund, the wording seems to imply that, if you cancel, the owner will make a good faith effort to rent the house to someone else and, if so, give you a refund. But, I doubt that you could enforce an implied obligation like that. It should have been clearly stated in the agreement.

[Rrgolf]

Maybe he died

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

Almost all travel insurance excludes cancellations due to Pandemics.it doesn’t

[gatorbill1]

it doesn’t

Almost all travel insurance excludes cancellations due to Pandemics.

NCL travel insurance told us they excluded pandemics

[Toymeister]

Contractually, this is known as Impossibility of performance. You, OP, cannot perform (meet the terms of the contract) because of international restrictions on travel.

The contract occurred in Florida, the small claims court limit is 8,000. He can be sued for the deposit. Small claims cases are handled via web cameras in Sumter county now, you can be in Canada and file.

It will cost 313.00 to file. That is what I would do.

Source: My experiences in 33 years of contacting and as a landlord.

[Stu from NYC]

Contractually, this is known as Impossibility of performance. You, OP, cannot perform (meet the terms of the contract) because of international restrictions on travel.

The contract occurred in Florida, the small claims court limit is 8,000. He can be sued for the deposit. Small claims cases are handled via web cameras in Sumter county now, you can be in Canada and file.

It will cost 313.00 to file. That is what I would do.

Source: My experiences in 33 years of contacting and as a landlord.

Very interesting but since the rental is for some time in 2021 (no idea when) how do we know it will still be covered by impossibility of performance.

Took contract law class in Grad School.:bigbow:

[capecoralbill]

I am a Canadian.......
Any thoughts or or help with this would be appreciated.

If your landlord refuses to refund, you may be able to threaten him with the following rental rules.
1.) FEDERAL, the IRS requires rentals over two weeks to be reported on the individuals income tax.....I doubt your landlord will want to tangle with the IRS unless he is squeaky clean.
2.) STATE government, Florida requires your landlord to pay a 6% state sales tax, plus any applicable discretionary sales surtax, applies to rental charges or room rates paid for the right to use or occupy living quarters or sleeping or housekeeping accommodations for rental periods six months or less, often called “transient rental accommodations” or “transient rentals.”
Some examples are hotel and motel rooms, condominium units, timeshare resort
units, single-family homes, apartments or units in multiple unit structures, mobile homes, beach or vacation houses, campground sites, and trailer or RV parks.

[Lindsyburnsy]

I cancelled my reservation in the spring and all of my money, including security deposit was refunded with the owner being very understanding of these circumstances. Good people, act accordingly.

[tophcfa]

If we were renting our house, which we are not, I would give a full refund to anyone who booked before March 2020 since the renter had no knowledge of the pandemic. I think that is just the right thing to do regardless of what the rental contract says. However, if they booked after March of 2020, they knew the risk they were taking and should have to live with the consequences. Just my two cents for what's it worth. We rented a house for a week in Maine last January and were supposed to stay there a couple of weeks ago but had to cancel because the governor of Maine required us to quarantine for two weeks when entering the state. The landlord we rented from gladly returned our full deposit, because it was the right thing to do. We hope to be able to rent the house next summer assuming this dam pandemic is past us by then, but I am not holding my breath.

[vintageogauge]

I kind of feel sorry for the landlords in these situations as they still have to pay their bills for the unit being rented, maybe a partial refund would be better for both parties. In this case I think it's too early as restrictions may not be in place after the first of the year and he also might find someone from the states to take the unit for this time slot.

[JGVillages]

First I would like to know why you are trying to contact him , is it because you are trying to get all your money back, maybe that’s why he had not answered.I have mine rented for next winter , no refunds at all . If the people canceled I would text them sorry and good luck

You are lucky to find a renter that would be confident enough to know with all certainty that they won’t have any chance to get their money back if they were unable to be here for a number of reasons. Can’t understand why an owner would not refund the deposit if they were able to re-rent to another, as is your policy. For myself, I would never rent under those conditions. Even if the renter is questioning whether or not the owner will refund the deposit out of compassion, or follow the contract and refund only if re-rented, the owner should at least communicate with the renter, and in this case one who has rented previously.

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

NCL travel insurance told us they excluded pandemicsargue but regardless of that fact and I give up arguing about it , my message was that we should always have travel insurance for any trips we take , pandemic or not , and even now you could have an accident , a medical emergency , a death the insurance will still cover those issues

[charmed59]

If your landlord refuses to refund, you may be able to threaten him with the following rental rules.
1.) FEDERAL, the IRS requires rentals over two weeks to be reported on the individuals income tax.....I doubt your landlord will want to tangle with the IRS unless he is squeaky clean.
2.) STATE government, Florida requires your landlord to pay a 6% state sales tax, plus any applicable discretionary sales surtax, applies to rental charges or room rates paid for the right to use or occupy living quarters or sleeping or housekeeping accommodations for rental periods six months or less, often called “transient rental accommodations” or “transient rentals.”
Some examples are hotel and motel rooms, condominium units, timeshare resort
units, single-family homes, apartments or units in multiple unit structures, mobile homes, beach or vacation houses, campground sites, and trailer or RV parks.

Though there may be some folks skirting these rules I would bet most are not. The money from the transient rental taxes go to paying for tourist things like the entertainment on the squares. That helps draws renters, so it in my interest to pay that.

If you know the landlords are skirting the rules on taxes why would you be surprised they don’t refund deposits.

[Maureen111]

Hello
My main issue right now is the No Response. I hope he rerents the property of course. I understand we may not get the money back if he doesn’t rent. I hope any home owner would respond to their tenants.

[Maureen111]

Hello
I booked in February 2020 for the following year before all this got so bad. For sure if I knew this pandemic would turn out this way I would have waited.

[Maureen111]

That is nice to hear. We are still hoping to hear from our homeowners.

[Maureen111]

Yes we are still hoping for that too

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

argue but regardless of that fact and I give up arguing about it , my message was that we should always have travel insurance for any trips we take , pandemic or not , and even now you could have an accident , a medical emergency , a death the insurance will still cover those issues I took about 30 seconds yesterday and found at least 9 companies including many that you could call cancel for any reason they cost a little more , there are always companies that will insure for anything as long as the risk reward is in there favor , this is my last word on this lol

[justjim]

First I would like to know why you are trying to contact him , is it because you are trying to get all your money back, maybe that’s why he had not answered.I have mine rented for next winter , no refunds at all . If the people canceled I would text them sorry and good luck

If they are from Canada and have to cancel because of the coronavirus, I would refund their money in a heartbeat.

[pauld315]

I would think that if your renters are not allowed to travel here based on restrictions in place (i.e. nothing they can do about it), any monies should be refunded. In this case, since it is not known if there will be restriction in place for travel in 2021, and you are trying to cancel now, I would think that the original agreement is valid.

I know that on AirBnB they will not refund all of your money if you rented it after March 14th. My daughter lost half of her money when she tried to cancel an AirBnB accommodation she had in NY for a weekend to attend a wedding. NY has a restriction on about 10 states travelling there and they require a 14 day quarantine. So, I would think it would depend on when the reservation was made.

[Stu from NYC]

If they are from Canada and have to cancel because of the coronavirus, I would refund their money in a heartbeat.

Not everyone is like you. Can see both sides.

Owner still has bills to pay and if he cannot find another renter can see why he would keep at least part of the deposit to at least break even on investment. However not answering his renter is totally wrong.

[eeroger]

I am a Canadian who is sadly cancelling my rental for 2021due to Covid 19 and travel restrictions etc. The owner of the home refuses to answer my texts emails and phone calls. I have paid 1/2 the money. The contract states we will only get that money back if he Rerents the property. I understand that. But to not answer me for the past 3 months is very rude!! We rented last year from this owner as well.
Any thoughts or or help with this would be appreciated.

What months are you renting? I have friends who want to rent a pet friendly place for Feb & March. They cannot find a rental for only those 2 months. They have commitments in Jan, otherwise would rent for all 3 months. They want to rent in central area (466a to 466).

[tophcfa]

I know that on AirBnB they will not refund all of your money if you rented it after March 14th. My daughter lost half of her money when she tried to cancel an AirBnB accommodation she had in NY for a weekend to attend a wedding. NY has a restriction on about 10 states travelling there and they require a 14 day quarantine. So, I would think it would depend on when the reservation was made.

The same thing happened to us on a **** rental, which we booked last January. The landlord graciously refunded their full portion of the deposit, but **** refused to refund their rental fee. Needless to say, we will never use **** again.

The **** is vacation rental by owner, but when I saved the thread **** showed up?

[kathyspear]

I took about 30 seconds yesterday and found at least 9 companies including many that you could call cancel for any reason they cost a little more , there are always companies that will insure for anything as long as the risk reward is in there favor , this is my last word on this lol

I always recommend that people purchase travel insurance. That said, the cost goes up based on age so it can get pricey. Also, "Cancel For Any Reason" policies are more expensive and generally only cover 75% of your out-of-pocket losses. Just something to be aware of.

kathy