Newbie!! Renting Points Question - Can The Owner Revoke the Reservation?

[kleatherman]

Hi all! We've rented through DVC Rental and David's before but we're taking a quick trip and thought to try renting from an individual. It's just an overnight cheap rental so we went ahead and grabbed it without much due diligence although we did confirm it was in our My Disney Experience app before paying.

My question is this: can the owner revoke our reservation, even though it is now in our name? I don't know if on the back-end her name is still on it or not as a lead guest. Her name is not listed on the My Disney Experience app account.

Thanks so much, I appreciate anyone's help and clarification on this!

 

[TomorrowlandOfYesterday]

DVC Members have complete control of the reservation up until you are actually checked in by the front desk (online check in does not count). So while it's unlikely anything would happen, the possibility is there.

 

[Marionnette]

Hi all! We've rented through DVC Rental and David's before but we're taking a quick trip and thought to try renting from an individual. It's just an overnight cheap rental so we went ahead and grabbed it without much due diligence although we did confirm it was in our My Disney Experience app before paying.

My question is this: can the owner revoke our reservation, even though it is now in our name? I don't know if on the back-end her name is still on it or not as a lead guest. Her name is not listed on the My Disney Experience app account.

Thanks so much, I appreciate anyone's help and clarification on this!

If the owner's name (or anyone else who is not in your family) is on the reservation, you would have seen it when you linked the reservation in your MDE.

As PP pointed out, owners retain control of the reservation until you check in at the resort. This is true even when you have rented thru an agency. And as also been previously stated, it's rare when a rental goes awry...even less common on the disboards than FB.

 

[kleatherman]

Thanks everyone for the help! How tricky. We did it through a FB group for one night during Labor Day weekend. She seems legitimate - but - in the past 24 hours has added several more confirmed reservations for Labor Day weekend and warning bells are going off. She now has 8 separate reservations available to rent that span 2 weeks in September. I've been contacting her references (again, should have done it before purchasing) just to check in and none of the references have actually gone on their trip yet.

So I'm okay eating my costs and chalking this up to a scamming learning experience - I just don't want to be at WDW without the awareness that I might need a back-up place to stay!

 

[Phatscott25]

It's probably fine. The person likely has a lot of points and booked several spec rentals. It's not uncommon.

 

[Marionnette]

Thanks everyone for the help! How tricky. We did it through a FB group for one night during Labor Day weekend. She seems legitimate - but - in the past 24 hours has added several more confirmed reservations for Labor Day weekend and warning bells are going off. She now has 8 separate reservations available to rent that span 2 weeks in September. I've been contacting her references (again, should have done it before purchasing) just to check in and none of the references have actually gone on their trip yet.

So I'm okay eating my costs and chalking this up to a scamming learning experience - I just don't want to be at WDW without the awareness that I might need a back-up place to stay!

Most owners don't want to see their points go into holding, which occurs when a reservation is canceled 30 days or less before arrival. You are not likely to arrive to learn that you have no reservation. It would happen much earlier and you would see it in your MDE.

 

[CarolMN]

Do you have contact info for the owner other than thru FB or an email? A telephone number should put your mind more at ease, especially if you have talked to her in real time. Keep an eye on MDE. As @Marionnette says, your reservation will disappear if she cancels. FWIW, I don't think you need to worry. She's probably just grabbing availability to minimize the risk of losing points that will expire soon if not used.

 

[DebLovesPooh]

I think I would be nervous that all of the references haven’t gone on their trips yet. Maybe the owner is renting points for the first time, but I would feel better if I had a few references who had actually completed their reservations.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I think I would be nervous that all of the references haven’t gone on their trips yet. Maybe the owner is renting points for the first time, but I would feel better if I had a few references who had actually completed their reservations.

That's what was happening with that one scammer, isn't it? Lots of references who were pre-stay.

 

[Wells Larsen]

Is it appropriate to ask to swap pictures of state identification as a means of doing due diligence? Or is that asking too much?
Has anyone asked for that before?

 

[starry_solo]

Is it appropriate to ask to swap pictures of state identification as a means of doing due diligence? Or is that asking too much?
Has anyone asked for that before?

I wouldn't do that as a renter.

 

[Wells Larsen]

I wouldn't do that as a renter.

Don't most contracts already have the relevant information that would be on a Driver's License? Aside form the picture?
Wouldn't the ID just match what it says on the contract?

 

[starry_solo]

Don't most contracts already have the relevant information that would be on a Driver's License? Aside form the picture?
Wouldn't the ID just match what it says on the contract?

The contract should have name, maybe an address and phone number.
It wouldn't have the driver's license number, the birthdate, the expiration date, height, weight, eye color, hair color, issue date of driver's license, etc.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

And it's pretty easy to fake a picture of a DL. The added security stuff that make them harder to fake to get into a bar underage blur in a digital scan.

 

[Wells Larsen]

The contract should have name, maybe an address and phone number.
It wouldn't have the driver's license number, the birthdate, the expiration date, height, weight, eye color, hair color, issue date of driver's license, etc.

That's a good point about the number. It would be a good idea to black that out prior to sending.

 

[Sandisw]

That's a good point about the number. It would be a good idea to black that out prior to sending.

Honestly, I would never send a copy of my license to a renter. I would also never take a copy of a license from a renter.

Rentals require a lot of trust between owner and renter, because as mentioned, it is a private transaction and in control of the owner.

It is not a process for everyone.

 

[supersnoop]

Personally, I'd look up the owners deeds to make sure they owned enough points to support the reservations, and I'd want to cross-reference their information (phone/email/address) to make sure they were legitimately who they claimed to be.

 

[Wells Larsen]

Personally, I'd look up the owners deeds to make sure they owned enough points to support the reservations, and I'd want to cross-reference their information (phone/email/address) to make sure they were legitimately who they claimed to be.

Interesting. How does one lookup the deeds?

 

[Best Aunt]

Interesting. How does one lookup the deeds?

If the DVC home resort is in Orange County Florida:
https://or.occompt.com/recorder/eagleweb/docSearch.jsp

That website won't be helpful if the contract's home resort is Aulani, Hilton Head Island, Vero Beach, Grand Californian. Remember that at 7 months, an owner can make a reservation at any DVC resort, no matter what their home resort is. So if you are renting points for a stay at a DVC resort at Disney World, the owner could have made the reservation using points from a contract which has one of those as a home resort, and thus the deed won't appear on the Orange County FL website. Somebody else might know the websites to use to check deeds for those home resorts, but it's not something I know.

 

[sndral]

Is it appropriate to ask to swap pictures of state identification as a means of doing due diligence? Or is that asking too much?
Has anyone asked for that before?

I would never ever give someone a copy of my DL, a valid DL is valuable to someone w/out ID, a suspended/revoked DL, or warrants. Here’s how it plays out, someone gets pulled over or contacted for a citable offense, they hand the officer a fake DL w/ your real info. & the officer gives ‘them‘ a ticket, they no show in court or don’t pay the ticket & a bench warrant goes out for you. I assume criminal identity theft is less of a problem w/ the advent of real id & portable print scanners in patrol cars - but still far too risky for me to give someone a copy of my DL.

If the DVC home resort is in Orange County Florida:
https://or.occompt.com/recorder/eagleweb/docSearch.jsp

That website won't be helpful if the contract's home resort is Aulani, Hilton Head Island, Vero Beach, Grand Californian. Remember that at 7 months, an owner can make a reservation at any DVC resort, no matter what their home resort is. So if you are renting points for a stay at a DVC resort at Disney World, the owner could have made the reservation using points from a contract which has one of those as a home resort, and thus the deed won't appear on the Orange County FL website. Somebody else might know the websites to use to check deeds for those home resorts, but it's not something I know.

I believe in the recent FB DVC rental scam reported here on DIS the ‘owner’ claimed to have Aulani points, thus making it harder for those renting from him to verify.