Canadian Rental Cancellations Due to COVID 19
 

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.

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)

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

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:

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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?

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.

Maybe he died