Q: She asks, "We don't have hurricane issues but we have been having road closures with snow storms. How do we treat these events? For example: we have renters that were to check in this afternoon, but the mountain pass to the town, our home is in, is closed until tomorrow morning. If they decide not to even bother going for one day tomorrow then do I have to refund all of their money for one night or try to discount if they re‑book?"

A: Danielle, one of the things to remember is whether or not we have stringent policies for check‑in and check‑out and cancellation and all of our policies that we abide by, if the vacationers are unable to access your vacation home due to things outside of their control or your control then it really is fair to refund them the money. Give them the option to stay one night or two nights.

I had a similar thing happen with me. I had a hurricane that was coming to one of my homes and the renters were supposed to check‑in on Saturday. I called them and said, "Hey there is a mandatory evacuation you can't check‑in today." They said, "OK well we will wait out this storm." On Sunday the roads were still closed even though the storm passed by we didn't get hit by that particular hurricane.

Then the next day they were able to go in but by that point they were only suppose to be staying for four days. Two of their four days were already passed. Could I require that they go down and stay those two days? I could have, but I just don't feel like it is good business practice.

Remember we like to build our businesses on referrals, on positive feedback and if somebody can't physically get into your second home I really think it is morally and ethically right to refund them or give them the option to rebook. I don't think that we can dictate that they don't get the money back or they do indeed have to go.

I hope you enjoyed this episode of "Ask Christine." If you have a question we would love to hear from you. Please leave a message at 512‑493‑4340.