Landlord questions AirBnB after hurricane leaves beachfront property uninhabitable

When Hurricane Melissa tore done Jamaica successful October, Jordan Senior watched his superior root of income vanish nether knee-deep floodwaters.

His rental compartment successful Treasure Beach, which typically brings successful astir $30,000 annually, present sits submerged and unrentable — perchance for months.

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Even worse, operation connected aggregate different properties Senior was gathering with $60,000 successful savings is importantly acceptable back, including a near-complete villa that mislaid its extortion and suffered large structural harm (1).

Senior's communicative isn't conscionable astir 1 unlucky landlord. It's a stark reminder of the fiscal vulnerabilities facing short-term rental investors, peculiarly those successful hurricane-prone coastal areas during highest booking season.

Senior's Cashaw Cabin, a one-bedroom A-frame spot with a backstage excavation that helium built successful 2022 for astir $40,000, was thriving earlier Melissa made landfall.

The spot is typically booked for 15 to 20 nights successful a period passim the year, but from mid-November to May, the spot is booked astir each night. The compartment charges betwixt $115 and $150 per nighttime — depending connected the play — connected platforms specified arsenic Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia.

As Senior shared with Business Insider, the timing couldn't beryllium worse. Hurricane Melissa struck conscionable earlier the Caribbean's lucrative precocious season, and Senior says helium whitethorn not beryllium capable to unfastened until January, which would hitch retired months of his busiest booking period.

"Airbnb has canceled my bookings,” Senior explained. “I understand, that's nary problem, they person to look aft people. But astatine the aforesaid time, possibly the big needs immoderate help, too. If you're canceling bookings months aft a storm, that doesn't truly enactment retired for the hosts due to the fact that we don't person thing to look guardant to successful presumption of earnings."

And the fiscal cascade doesn't halt there. Senior had been utilizing Cashaw Cabin's net to money his villa project, which was weeks distant from launch. Now, he'll request to dip further into his savings conscionable to repair the harm — wealth that was earmarked for finishing touches.