Hope this is the right area

[kccne]

I am renting point for a trip coming up, I have never done this before. How do I make sure the person I am dealing with owns the points he is renting me? Is there a way to check this out before I fork over the cash?

 

[disneynutz]

If someone is in the business of ripping off renters, there is little that you can do to protect yourself. The owner may own points but that doesn't mean that you won't have problems.

Your best bet is to verify references and stick with someone who has a history of renting.

Bill

 

[heynowirv]

You can make sure you get a confirmation of a reservation BEFORE you fork over any cash.

 

[k3chantal]

You can make sure you get a confirmation of a reservation BEFORE you fork over any cash.

Flip side of that is 'Are there people who would rent their points before getting at least some of the cash?'

I don't intend to ever rent my points but if I did I certainly would not make a reservation without a payment!

 

[DizBub]

You can make sure you get a confirmation of a reservation BEFORE you fork over any cash.

I'm in the process of renting an exisiting reservation. Waiting on the confirmation e-mail from Disney. I can already see the reservation with our names on it on the Disney Site.

Lady I'm renting from requires half payment now and the other half 60 days prior to the actual check in. I know she has a good reputation even though we have never rented from her.

Good Luck with your rental!

 

[G'sMaman]

As pp pointed out, if someone is out to scam you there's probably not a lot you can do. But you can check to see if they own the points on the Orange County Comptroller's website (note: this is good only for the Florida resorts):

http://or.occompt.com/recorder/web/login.jsp

Once the person makes the reservation, don’t rely solely on the email confirmation you get. Go directly to the DVC confirmation site and continue to check every so often to make sure they haven't cancelled the reservation. Maybe someone else can provide you that link. If not, pm me and I will try and find it for you. Good luck!

 

[ELMC]

If someone is in the business of ripping off renters, there is little that you can do to protect yourself. The owner may own points but that doesn't mean that you won't have problems.

Your best bet is to verify references and stick with someone who has a history of renting.

Bill

I would also add that it would be a good idea to search an owner's previous posts. Ideally you want to find someone who is active here on the DIS, someone who is a member of the DIS community and not just using it to unload some extra points.

Flip side of that is 'Are there people who would rent their points before getting at least some of the cash?'

Good question, and the answer is yes. As someone who rents out points, there is little to no risk for me to make a reservation before getting paid (which is what I do). I provide the client with their confirmation number immediately as well as the confirmation email as soon as it comes. They then have up to 48 hours to pay for the reservation. If they don't, I simply cancel the reservation and the points go back into my account. All I lost was a little of my time. Remember, the owner controls the reservation. So the only benefit of having the reservation number prior to paying is the ability to confirm the reservation on the Disney website.

 

[kccne]

The person I am dealing with is on ***********. They dont have a lot of post on there, and he is going to be sending me a copy of the contract tonight, I guess this is one of those things you really cant be 100% about

 

[Deb & Bill]

One more thing, you don't want to respond to people who initiate contact with you. If you email or post to someone and someone else responds, ignore those. That is how some people have gotten taken in the past.

 

[JimMIA]

You can make sure you get a confirmation of a reservation BEFORE you fork over any cash.

Very naive suggestion....and one which will provide you ZERO protection.

With any timeshare system, when you rent a reservation from an owner, the owner retains complete control over the reservation until you actually arrive at the resort and check in. At any time -- for good reason, bad reason, or no reason at all -- that owner can cancel the reservation...without notice, and with little recourse on your part.

A confirmation, or seeing your name on a page on a website (even an "official" one) means NOTHING. Whatever is there can be changed with one Mouse-click.

Some of the other suggestions have merit...in the sense that they can help you establish the trust in the other party you need to have peace of mind. Renting anybody's timeshare reservation is really about trust, and virtually all of these rentals go off without a hitch.

But IF someone is out to take your money, they will take it, and no simplistic, anonymous Internet blog posts will help you.

Get comfortable with the person you are renting from and have a great vacation!

If you can't get comfortable, don't rent from them.

 

[JimMIA]

duplicate, sorry.

 

[Illini Al]

If the owner accepted PayPal, wouldn't that offer the renter some protection and ultimately a level of comfort? If the owner cancels the transaction after accepting the PayPal payment, the renter can make a claim of not getting what they paid for. Wouldn't PayPal then open up an investigation with the owner?
I don't know how much using PayPal would help, but it certainly couldn't hurt.

 

[DizBub]

If the owner accepted PayPal, wouldn't that offer the renter some protection and ultimately a level of comfort? If the owner cancels the transaction after accepting the PayPal payment, the renter can make a claim of not getting what they paid for. Wouldn't PayPal then open up an investigation with the owner?
I don't know how much using PayPal would help, but it certainly couldn't hurt.

I agree with this. I've always heard that PayPal is a "safer" way to pay. At least there is a record of a transaction.

Let's face it, it takes a huge leap of faith to send complete strangers large amounts of money for a vacation months in the future.

 

[Missyrose]

If the owner accepted PayPal, wouldn't that offer the renter some protection and ultimately a level of comfort? If the owner cancels the transaction after accepting the PayPal payment, the renter can make a claim of not getting what they paid for. Wouldn't PayPal then open up an investigation with the owner?
I don't know how much using PayPal would help, but it certainly couldn't hurt.

Actually the terms and conditions of PayPal state you can't use their service for timeshare rental (which most people ignore anyway) but it would make filing a claim against an owner virtually impossible.

 

[G'sMaman]

. . . seeing your name on a page on a website (even an "official" one) means NOTHING.

While I agree that seeing your name on an official disney reservation page doesn't prevent someone from scamming you or cancelling your reservation, I don't agree that it means nothing. I still think there is some utility in being able to confirm that your reservation is there. A few years back on another board someone was having problems contacting the DVC owner they were renting from and when they checked online the month before their arrival date they saw their reservation had been cancelled. Since they already had their flights booked, they at least had time to make alternative hotel arrangements. Not a great outcome, but they made the best of it. For me, I would also be worried about someone's financial state. They could be a very trustworthy person, but then fall on hard times and have to declare bankruptcy and lose their DVC timeshare. Rare, but it has happened.

 

[JimMIA]

While I agree that seeing your name on an official disney reservation page doesn't prevent someone from scamming you or cancelling your reservation, I don't agree that it means nothing. I still think there is some utility in being able to confirm that your reservation is there. A few years back on another board someone was having problems contacting the DVC owner they were renting from and when they checked online the month before their arrival date they saw their reservation had been cancelled. Since they already had their flights booked, they at least had time to make alternative hotel arrangements. Not a great outcome, but they made the best of it. For me, I would also be worried about someone's financial state. They could be a very trustworthy person, but then fall on hard times and have to declare bankruptcy and lose their DVC timeshare. Rare, but it has happened.

Those are valid points, but they still don't offer much protection. Seeing the ressie online tells you two things:

1. That the person you rented from, in fact, has access to a DVC account and the ability to make reservations.
2. They actually followed through and made a reservation in your name.

But as you also mention, there are a number of scenarios that could cause a cancellation. For example:

• The person you are renting from is scamming you. This occurs SO rarely it's almost not worth worrying about, but you should take sensible precautions to protect yourself.
• Some sort of action BY DVC to freeze the account -- non-payment of dues, unpaid room charges, non-payment of loans, bankruptcy, death, etc. This actually happens far more frequently than scamming, and probably a lot more than we know here on the DIS.
• Misunderstandings between the renter and the owner. This is probably the largest category of difficulties with rentals.
  
  There are three things that are really requirements for a successful rental: trust, both parties understanding what they are doing, and complete understanding and compliance with payment schedules. You'd be amazed how many rentals go through without any problems where neither the owner or the person renting knowing what they are doing!

One way of protecting yourself that hasn't been mentioned is trip insurance. It's inexpensive and can provide protection not only for the cost of the reservation, but for many other components of the vacation cost. You have to be very sure you understand the CAUSES COVERED by trip insurance -- if cancellation by someone other than yourself is not covered, it would not be helpful in the scenarios we are discussing here.