Freaking out about DVC rental

[luvdisney2006]

At this point we would take anything but there is no availability even in value, std view or 1 or 2 bedroom for DVC even cash reservations the Standard view through Disney is $360 plus taxes and resort fees because it is too close to time If I would have booked earlier they had codes for the rooms for less!

 

[annnewjerz]

To the OP, good luck and I really hope that everything works out. We are in a similar situation---I'm a control freak plan-a-holic and we rented points this year from a member that we had gotten to know on another board.

She is the nicest person and seems genuinely excited that I am excited about our first stay at a Disney Deluxe at Christmas and that really makes it easier to trust her. We decided to go only two weeks before our 11 month booking window opened up and she agreed to change her policy so we could pay 50% now and 50% this summer, and also has a cancellation clause in our agreement that if we need to cancel within X number of days and they can still get their points back, they will refund us the money.

I know people can be horrible and rip you off, but for the most part I think if you do even the slightest bit of research you can end up with a really great deal for both you and the DVCer.

Hope you have a great experience and a great trip. After staying at value resorts every trip, I have a feeling that staying at the BWV will spoil us so much we may end up renters every trip until we can afford to buy into DVC.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

OP:

We have rented from 3 different members ... and, we have always had the DVC unit promised waiting for us when we checked into the resort! It can be nerve wracking. But, for the most part, people are honest. We only really hear about the scammers of the world.

This year, I sent a cashiers check for $2700 off to a stranger to transfer points into my account with no real guarantee that I would actually get those points ... just a few emails and a 5 minute phone conversation. I did do a search for the members other posts on the Disboards and I did a reverse address search online to make sure the person lived at the address they gave me, but those things still weren't any type of guarantee. Anyway, the point transfer went off without a hitch.

 

[Brian Noble]

That's why I'm always puzzled when people come on saying "Only a dummy would buy DVC when you can rent points from a member for so cheap."

The risk of renting is clear, but there are risks on both sides. The risks of owning include chagnes in your vacation habits/preferences, or unexpected increases in resort operating costs.

 

[2disneydads]

OP:

As a person who rents my points from time to time, I can tell you that the owners renting points with whom I have been in contact have been honest, straightforward people who go out of their way to help their clients. I know that I try to provide Disney-level service to my points renters, helping them with their special requests, etc. Defrauding a points renter is a criminal offense, and I know few people, even people in financial difficulties, who are willing to face criminal charges for defrauding someone over the internet (making it a federal offense). And I am sure that DVC would come down hard on anyone trying to rent points that they did not own - it hurts the DVC image and brand. But I think that if you take some decent precautions you can be safe.

Keep in mind that there are risks to the member renting points, too. For example, I had someone request an exchange that required me to borrow points from my 2009 use year into my 2008 use year. I sent her my contract and terms and conditions. She accepted them all, including the requirement that she pay within 3 days of confirmation of the reservation. I got her the reservation, including the points borrowing. Then, after the reservation was made, she started quibbling about when she had to pay and wanted to string payment out. I cancelled her reservation at that point, but I was left with extra points now in my 2008 use year. So trying to hold off payment until a written confirmation is received puts the member renting points at a disadvantage, especially if any points borrowing is required.

The best course is to find someone who works honestly, openly, with a fair contract and with good communication. Ask about completed transactions in the past. Maybe I am naive, but I think that the majority of people renting DVC points are honest and fair.

 

[Disney grandma]

A really good scam artist would just find a good name with a contract showing up on the Orange County website and say they are that person.

I think this would be hard to do because you have to have a member number when you make the reservation and it has to match up to the name. When you get the confirmation it will have the owner and the renter names on it.

 

[crisi]

I think this would be hard to do because you have to have a member number when you make the reservation and it has to match up to the name. When you get the confirmation it will have the owner and the renter names on it.

If you have a scam artist, they may never make the reservation to start with. Your "confirmation" can be mocked up with photoshop. Your conference call with Member Services is an accomplice of theirs. Their bank account was closed before you made the trip and the identity was stolen.

However, I've never heard of anyone going to this extent to scam DVC rentals.

The most likely scenario right now is that your landlord is so tight for cash they don't pay dues and your reservation gets canceled. And if they are that tight for cash, they may not have the cash to refund your money, either. All the proof of ownership in the world isn't going to help if they were a member in good standing when they made your reservation - then stopped paying dues because of a job loss. They may have made the original reservation with the best of intentions - and they may not even be aware that non-payment of dues might put an existing reservation in jeopardy.

 

[jco_direwolf]

If you see a foreclosure action being filed, don't rent from them. If they "deed the property back to DVC," (meaning the court took it from them ), you will lose your ressie...and in most cases, your money as well.

I think the person was talking about Deed in lieu of foreclosure. Which does does not mean "The court took it back from them". It most likely means they where either near or in default. But the person wanted to save what they could of their credit. Or they might have even been able to keep the primary residence once they got rid of the DVC.

My guess is this happened in less than 90 days. So I doubt any paperwork had been filed, until the deed transfer was filed. So the OP had no chance of catching it.

johno

 

[dinahfig]

Hi!

I know this doesn't help much, buy if you have AAA, I think that could save you 10% on a cash reservation. That's most of the taxes... I think you have to call them to ask for AAA discount. Maybe you could split the stay between Animal Kingdom and one of the Moderate resorts? I wish I could help! I'm still waiting to pass ROFR! Have a wonderful time whatever you decide to do!

At this point we would take anything but there is no availability even in value, std view or 1 or 2 bedroom for DVC even cash reservations the Standard view through Disney is $360 plus taxes and resort fees because it is too close to time If I would have booked earlier they had codes for the rooms for less!

 

[luvdisney2006]

Hi AAA discount no longer available either

thanks

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

More than likely, the former owner was trying to put the best face on a foreclosure. I'm glad they were ethical and notified you and refunded your money.

Just FYI for anyone who's reading this, situations like this can be prevented by doing a little research.

If you get the owner's true name (and you should not rent from someone who won't give you their true name!), you can research their ownership through the Orange County Comptroller's office website -- provided they own at one of the WDW resorts. If you do it right, a search there will tell you everything that's ever happened with their DVC ownership.

If you see liens, don't rent from them! If there's a lien, it's usually because they haven't paid their dues and that could cause your ressie to be canceled.

If you see a foreclosure action being filed, don't rent from them. If they "deed the property back to DVC," (meaning the court took it from them ), you will lose your ressie...and in most cases, your money as well.

If they say they own one of the WDW resorts and you can't find them listed, don't rent from them unless you can get the correct ownership info and verify it.

If they tell you they are authorized to rent from someone else's account, don't rent from them. Period.

This is not rocket science, folks!

Smart people always say "it's not rocket science", but I would never have thought to even begin to know where to find this info if you hadn't posted it.

Or that info like that is even available!!!

I also rented before we owned, and never had a problem.

My advice would be to cultivate a good relationship with your owner-sometimes when I would rent I spent a lot of time hand-holding the people that rented the points from me because I totally understood how they felt.

This year two of the people I had rented to in the past emailed me to ask if I had any points again, I was like, no,,,spending a LOT of time in Disney lately!

But I also steered them to this board and told them what "type" of Disboarder to look for to rent from (ie NOT somebody earning their ears).

 

[Golden Rose]

We bought DVC in part because we were just to nervous to rent points from strangers. We knew renting could be a good deal (only because I hang out here on the Disboards), but we always just got a suite or two bedrooms from Disney. I always found some sort of deal or discount, but we always ended up spending a lot of money anyway. We decided to forego our fall vacation and buy DVC instead, so that we wouldn't have to deal with the stresses of renting or the repeated high expense of deluxe hotel rooms and suites.

We will probably never end up renting out our points for similar reasons. I know there are lots of nice, honest people out there just hoping to find another nice, honest person to rent from, but there are a few jerks and scam-artists... and I don't know how to tell the difference!

 

[Sammie]

Your concern is understandable, as you are not completely assured of anything until you check in, regardless of a contract or paying thru paypal. The member owns the reservation until you are physically there to check in.

But there is risk also to members who rent, damages and charges to the room are the member's responsiblity if something goes wrong. Also members run the risk that if for some reason the guest wishes to add DDP after arriving, the front desk is very likely to cancel the exisiting reservation and rebook a new one with DDP, this can cause major havoc on your points as the points for the cancelled reservation go into holding.

 

[PookieB]

get all the sellers contact info (email, home phone and cell phone #) and continously stay in touch, ask questions, etc. Unless given a reason to worry, don't! The trade off for great savings is not having control of the reservation. Very few people on these boards complain of getting duked by a DVC member.

OP:

I totally agree! We rented points for our upcoming trip in June. Owner was great about giving all of his personal contact info(name,address,work and all #s) and made the reservation for AKV with me on the phone. I also received a printed confirmation in the mail. This put me at ease a bit. Hope it all works out and you have a wonderful time!

 

[mtmbyck]

I rented 456 pts from a DVC member last August. We leave on Wednesday for our trip! When I booked, I paid half and then received a WDW confim. letter (sure might have been fake and you can't call resort as they will only speak to DVC member), and then paid the other half 60 days out. She also sent me a contract with her address, phone and cell. I was so paranoid I actually google earthed her address to ensure she existed at this address and checked the yellow pages!

I had a few panic attacks - it was surprising to me that my DVC landlord does not use the DVC boards. I called her and told her of my anxiety - we spomke for half and hour and she told me why she was renting, we talked about life and health and many things and I felt more at ease.

Since then, we keep in regular contact via email or calls (long distance). I just felt in my gut that this was going to be ok.

Our ME passes arrived with our names on them and now I know it is all ok!

In many cases the Landlord takes a huge risk also! I would ask for a contract with all of the contact information and maybe some references (my landlord had never rented before - more alarm bells went off).

In the end - we are getting an amazing deal!! It's going to be a dream vacation and I pan on sending my landlord something very special after our trip!!

Goodluck...I am sure everything will be amazing and your rental is legit but do a bit of homework!

 

[Disneydonnam]

I am sure everything will be fine. Before we became DVC members we would look at the amount of posts the renter had and where they lived. We couldn't believe the amount of renters that lived about 25 min from us.

 

[jmpurdy]

This is a perfect example of life throwing you a curve ball and how you will react and therefore your children will react. Yes, I would be VERY disappointed, but you now have cash to stay where you wish and you are STILL going to WDW! Instill this in your kids and how very lucky they are (and they are).
Stay at a moderate if available and have a blast. Your kids are seeing your disappointment and feeding off of that. Understandable. If you show them how to make lemonade out of lemons, they will learn a big lesson too. Don't let this ruin an already planned wonderful family time.

 

[dinahfig]

Really? I'm so sorry to hear that! It seems like I used it in the last couple of years so I thought they still did.

Hi AAA discount no longer available either

thanks

 

[DVCGeek]

Hi AAA discount no longer available either

Just sold out for those dates, right? I sure hope they weren't discontinued altogether, WERE THEY?????????

 

[Sammie]

Really? I'm so sorry to hear that! It seems like I used it in the last couple of years so I thought they still did.

They are still offered but subject to availabilty, meaning they are all gone for that time period, not that AAA is not offered.