Official Thread - New commercial use policy published 03/31

[JackosinDIS]

https://cdn1.parksmedia.wdprapps.di...Contemporary-Resort-Commercial-Use-Policy.pdf

 

[JackosinDIS]

Just trying to take in the detail, but interesting to note that they refer to
- 20 reservations
- ‘majority’ of points
- across all memberships

ETA - Here is the full wording of the list of activities which are given as examples of commercial use:

- A majority of reservations made by an Owner or individuals identified in the Management Company’s system of record as an “associate” or an “affiliate” (“Associate”), or a majority of the aggregate VacationPoints or Ownership Points (as applicable; “Points”) owned or controlled by an Owner (which may take into account all Points owned or controlled by an Owner across all Resorts at any given time), in either case, are used by individuals or entities other than the named Owner or Associate, regardless of whether the Owner or Associate is listed as a named guest on the reservation. As used herein “controlled by an Owner” shall include all Points that an Owner possesses discretion and authority to utilize, which authority may be proxy, power of attorney, or other permission from another Owner; or

- A majority of reservations or Points owned or controlled by an Owner (which may take into account all Points owned or controlled by an Owner across all Resorts at any given time) are made or used respectively at Resorts with overlapping room types and/or dates, regardless of whether the Owner or Associate is named as a guest on said reservations; or

- Regular advertising by an Owner, Associate, or someone else at the direction of an Owner (such as an employee, principal, officer, director, contractor, or agent acting on behalf of an Owner; collectively “Owner Agent”) of the availability of Vacation Ownership Interests and/or Vacation Homes for rental
including but not limited to use of a dedicated website, social media account, page, post, third-party service provider, or on any other media or platform now known or hereafter devised; or

- In any 12-month period more than 20 reservations are made by an Owner and/or its Associate (which may take into account all Points owned or controlled by an Owner across all Resorts at any given time) and a majority of such reservations are not used by the named Owner or Associate; or

- An Owner, Associate, or Owner Agent conducts photography, videotaping, or recording on Resort property that is used to market the availability of Vacation Ownership Interests and/or Vacation Homes for rental activity.

 

[juliebee]

Settling myself in right here.

 

[RivGirl]

Settling myself in right here.
View attachment 1060872

Oh good, you saved me a seat!

 

[foodiddiedoo]

I do like the “restrict online and direct to room check-in”. Would make it so folks couldn’t check in without you there.

 

[Mle8308]

Already being discussed on the other thread. Interesting article by Tom Bricker here: Tom Bricker Article DVC Rental Crackdown. I think it's a lot of posturing by DVC management. Time will tell!

 

[Mle8308]

I do like the “restrict online and direct to room check-in”. Would make it so folks couldn’t check in without you there.

How so? Renting is not forbidden. And what if points are gifted? My aunt gifted my sister a reservation at the GF as a wedding present. Is my aunt supposed to travel 1500 miles and go on the honeymoon with my sister and her husband? That's ridiculous.

 

[RivGirl]

How so? Renting is not forbidden. And what if points are gifted? My aunt gifted my sister a reservation at the GF as a wedding present. Is my aunt supposed to travel 1500 miles and go on the honeymoon with my sister and her husband? That's ridiculous.

To be clear, the proposed check-in restrictions are simply listed as an example of something management could do, if they decided you were guilty of commercial use.

The occasional renting and gifting of points still won’t be affected.

 

[juliebee]

I don't know if this part is new, but I find this highlighted info interesting. I've heard in past discussions that owners trying to circumnavigate being called commercial renters are keeping themselves on the reservation when they aren't staying with the family that is renting the points. If I was a renter, that would be a hard NO if the owner said they needed to stay on the reservation. But this policy says that won't stop DVC from saying it's still a commercial rental.

 

[juliebee]

I've heard the 20 reservations part mentioned widely before. But this seems to say that if you have 20 or more reservations and the majority are not for your own use, that is commercial renting. The majority of 20 is 11. So 11 rentals max in a rolling 12-month period.

 

[JackosinDIS]

I've heard the 20 reservations part mentioned widely before. But this seems to say that if you have 20 or more reservations and the majority are not for your own use, that is commercial renting. The majority of 20 is 11. So 11 rentals max in a rolling 12-month period.

View attachment 1060888

Technically, one could have 50 reservations, and as long as 26 of them are used by the Owner, that would be a majority. But I certainly wouldn’t recommend having that many rentals as that would be highly likely to fall in the regular and frequently renting category!

 

[Sandisw]

I am currently in WDW but we are going to make this the official thread.

If others are started, we will close them and continue here.

A few reminders:

Keep comments polite and respectful and related to the new policies.

The good news is that DVC had said that if they were to update the 2011 policy they would alert owners and I am happy we have it!!

 

[Brian rhymes with dyin]

Good. I'm tired of living in an era where everything and anything is a hustle including DVC rentalmaxxing. That said this seems a nightmare to enforce but maybe AI can help figure the offenders pretty easily.

 

[Huskerpal]

The question I have is will there be a big spike in contracts for sale in the coming weeks like we saw in June of last year?

 

[juliebee]

I appreciate they may prioritize investigations to larger point-owners and larger number of overall reservations. Going after the big dogs is smart.

 

[cruisehopeful]

The question I have is will there be a big spike in contracts for sale in the coming weeks like we saw in June of last year?

Let me find my wallet.

 

[Brian rhymes with dyin]

The question I have is will there be a big spike in contracts for sale in the coming weeks like we saw in June of last year?

What happened in the June of last year?

 

[juliebee]

Also, smart to release this on 3/31 instead of 4/1 April Fools

 

[Genie+]

Here’s #3 and #4, which is the most detailed thing I’ve ever come across from DVC about Commercial Renting:

3. Policy Regarding Use of Vacation Homes for Commercial Purposes: "Commercial purposes" includes a pattern of rental activity or other occupancy by an Owner (other than DVD and its affiliates) that the Board and/or Disney Vacation Club Management, LLC (the "Management Company"), in its reasonable discretion, could conclude constitutes a commercial enterprise or practice.

Without limiting the discretion of the Board and Management Company, the Board and/or Management Company may reasonably conclude that an Owner is using or occupying Vacation Ownership Interests and/or Vacation Homes for commercial purposes based on any one or more of the following activities (which are a non-exhaustive list of examples and without limiting any other possible factors):

• A majority of reservations made by an Owner or individuals identified in the Management Company's system of record as an "associate" or an "affiliate" ("Associate"), or a majority of the aggregate Vacation Points or Ownership Points (as applicable; "Points") owned or controlled by an Owner (which may take into account all Points owned or controlled by an Owner across all Resorts at any given time), in either case, are used by individuals or entities other than the named Owner or Associate, regardless of whether the Owner or Associate is listed as a named guest on the reservation. As used herein "controlled by an Owner" shall include all Points that an Owner possesses discretion and authority to utilize, which authority may be proxy, power of attorney, or other permission from another Owner; or
• A majority of reservations or Points owned or controlled by an Owner (which may take into account all Points owned or controlled by an Owner across all Resorts at any given time) are made or used respectively at Resorts with overlapping room types and/or dates, regardless of whether the Owner or Associate is named as a guest on said reservations; or
• Regular advertising by an Owner, Associate, or someone else at the direction of an Owner (such as an employee, principal, officer, director, contractor, or agent acting on behalf of an Owner; collectively
  "Owner Agent") of the availability of Vacation Ownership Interests and/or Vacation Homes for rental, including but not limited to use of a dedicated website, social media account, page, post, third-party service provider, or on any other media or platform now known or hereafter devised; or
• In any 12-month period more than 20 reservations are made by an Owner and/or its Associate (which may take into account all Points owned or controlled by an Owner across all Resorts at any given time) and a majority of such reservations are not used by the named Owner or Associate; or
• An Owner, Associate, or Owner Agent conducts photography, videotaping, or recording on Resort property that is used to market the availability of Vacation Ownership Interests and/or Vacation Homes for rental activity.

4. Enforcement: Enforcement of this policy will be the responsibility of the Management Company.

If the Board or Management Company determines that an Owner is engaged in commercial use of their Points in violation of the Governing Documents, the Owner must cease such activity at the demand of the Board or Management Company, and if the Owner does not cease such activity to the satisfaction of the Board or Management Company, the Management Company may elect to take any one or more of the following actions, without limitation, for a period of up to 24 months (as determined in the judgment of the Management Company taking into account the degree or number of violations). The Management Company in its discretion may elect to prioritize investigations and enforcement to Owners having an exceptional number of points or that make an exceptional number of reservations associated with a Club membership (in each case as compared to the ownership interest and/or reservation activity of the average Owner):

• Cancel future reservations; or
• Restrict Owner(s) and Associate(s) access to online booking; or
• Restrict Owner(s) reservations to be made only in the name of the Owners) and Associate(s); or
• Restrict reservations to be made only at the Owners) home Resort; or
• Restrict Owner(s) and Associate(s) ability to modify reservations including any name or date-based modifications; or
• Restrict banking, borrowing, and transferring of Points; or
• Limit or remove Owner(s) access to incidental benefits (including, by way of example only and without limitation, suspension of exchange privileges with Disney affiliates and third-party exchange companies); or
• Restrict adding Associate(s) names; or
• Remove existing Associate(s) names; or
• Restrict check-in activities such as use of online check-in, direct-to-room, or other mobile check-in activities now known or hereafter devised

 

[Huskerpal]

What happened in the June of last year?

The "check a box for personal use" at the end of the reservation process was introduced.

It is also when I bought my BRV contract.