It\u2019s that time of the year again, but North Carolina Atlantic Coast property owners have come to a screeching halt in their preparations for beach vacation season. Of course, that\u2019s because it\u2019s also COVID-19 season, and beaches are being shut down by local governments. Vacationers who have rented properties on Topsail Island have been hit hard by these closings. They\u2019ve paid in advance to reserve those rentals, and now, it seems as if the entity that they paid will refund only little or none of that money.<\/p>\n

The Deadline:<\/strong><\/p>\n

It seems as if vacationers who have paid in full or placed substantial deposits on Topsail Island rentals\u00a0 are being told by agencies that refunds aren\u2019t available for renters who paid deposits after January 29, 2020. Consumers don\u2019t know whether that information or disinformation was placed by insurance companies or not. The date seems arbitrary, capticious and premature for purposes of foreseeing that the COVID-19 virus would spread from China to the North Carolina Atlantic Coast at an accelerated pace.<\/p>\n

The Foreseeability of COVID-19:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Foreseeability is a legal issue that is usually addressed in personal injury cases, but it also arises in contract cases. North Carolina beach vacation renters are being told by rental insurance companies that if they purchased renter\u2019s insurance, they wouldn\u2019t be compensated for their losses if they purchased that coverage after January 29, 2020, because the proliferation of COVID-19 was a foreseeable event.<\/p>\n

What is a Foreseeable Event in the Law of Contracts?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Foreseeability in contract law looks at whether a loss was within the contemplation of the parties at the time that they entered into a contract. That is a matter of the facts surrounding each individual alleged breach. When a North Carolina beach rental contract was entered into is pivotal in determining foreseeability.<\/p>\n

North Carolina Beach Closings<\/strong><\/p>\n

Remember in the movie Jaws <\/em>when the mayor of Amity Island didn\u2019t want to close the beach even though there was strong evidence of shark attacks? The beaches on Topsail Island, NC have now been closed because of COVID-19, and other beaches on the North Carolina coastline are closing rapidly_{. <\/sub>These closings are all the result of attempts to contain the spread of COVID-19.<\/p>\n}

Vacation Rental Legislation<\/strong><\/p>\n