AirBnB & COVID-19
 

How are AirBnB Hosts being affected by COVID-19?

Are you still renting out your space? If so, are you using any specific guidelines or restrictions for guests to ensure their safety and yours? Are you possibly cancelling bookings until Emergency Bans have been lifted?

Until further notice it is illegal to advertise or rent vacation rentals on Kauai.

Thank you for your response! I've been highly curious whats happening. Does the current law in Kauai state what will happen to the doer if the law is violated?

Yes, the fine is a million dollars. The second offense is a trillion dollars.

Just be a good citizen. It ain't hard.

Some hospitals in hot spots are asking Airbnb host to open up their apartments or houses to health workers.

Thank you! That's a huge fine and definitely is a great thing. This pandemic needs to be stopped, and only we can do that by staying home and social distancing. I've seen online that many celebrities are still renting out AirBnB's and homes for their "quarantine" stay, as if it's a vacation. Although, I haven't seen any specifically in Kauai, do you think that this law should extend to all states and countries for the time being?

Would this be without charge to those healthcare workers?

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I suppose some hosts might not charge health care workers to be charitable, but no state can mandate a private citizen give someone housing for free, obviously. The state would have to pay for it, not sure what you are asking. They haven't gone that far, I haven't heard of any state that is paying accommodation bills for its workers so they can be away from home or whatever.

I know some specific states or localities have outlawed short-term vacation rentals outright, like Airbnb. Florida and Georgia have, and so have some communities in Maine and California. I know Pennsylvania was considering it also, not sure if they have or not.

I have no problem if someone wants to self-quarantine in an AirBnB ot other lodging as long as they follow all the common safety precautions such as wearing a mask in public, keeping a safe distance from others, washing hands, etc. It gets pretty darn tiresome staying home, I stayed inside for over 3 weeks other than taking out the trash and it was a welcome relief to get to Target a few days ago.

I don't know the penalty for illegal renting. But for those who do not honor the mandatory quarantine, there can be a $5,000 fine and jail time. Two people were arrested at Kauai's Princeville Foodland for ignoring the quarantine (after being warned).

I think what most people are experiencing is the opposite of what you’re asking—people are cancelling on Airbnb’s in droves. Because events are getting cancelled, people are experiencing a serious economic issue, or because they simply don’t know when they can or will feel safe to travel again. Locally, there’d usually be a huge festival going on near me right now, and what would normally be a high season for Airbnb’s and hotel and restaurants is not. No event, no demand. The point about whether people would rent is moot, because there’s no one to rent to.

however, anecdotally, from friends and family in hawaii and other tourist hot spots—there’s a lot of pressure to not have tourists around. I’m not sure they need the threat of a fine when there’s already considerable push back from other locals.

We have a vacation rental, for our extended family, on Kauai, for the end of June. This week we are realizing this will not happen this year. The rental agency is being very supportive, and we hope to reschedule for same time next year.