Owner liability

[CarolMN]

Several years ago, we rented our DVC points to someone. Talked and emailed her several times through out the transaction. Everything went well until their credit card was declined after they checked out of Disney. The credit card bill was very close to the payment we received for the rental. The renter somehow disappeared and we couldn't contact them. Disney froze our account until we paid the bill. I guess we are responsible for the renter's unpaid bills. We just rented our points recently after many years of staying away from rental market. Hopefully we have better luck this time. It's either renting out or selling and I am not ready to part with DVC yet.

I am really sorry that happened to you. (It does seem wrong that Disney can accept a credit card and then hold you responsible for it, but they do hold all the power and it would be very expensive to fight them). I hope you at least filed a police report.

Rather than renting a reservation, consider transferring the points you cannot use to another member. IMO, that carries significantly less risk.

Good luck.

 

[SunnieRN]

I guess in the end it, like the market, it boils down to the amount of risk you are comfortable with (or how lucky you think you are). I'm going to let .... (snip)......points go (they expire the end of the month), rather than rent them. It would just tick me off to no end if I rented points and then got stuck paying for someone else's good time.

I am really sorry that happened to you. (It does seem wrong that Disney can accept a credit card and then hold you responsible for it, but they do hold all the power and it would be very expensive to fight them). I hope you at least filed a police report.

Rather than renting a reservation, consider transferring the points you cannot use to another member. IMO, that carries significantly less risk.

Good luck.

This is my thought also. This keeps everyone safe.

I do feel, however, that as an owner there should be a right to prohibit charging to a room. Oh well, in a perfect world!

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I would love to hear an attorney chime in here.

It seems to me that Disney has an implied transference of accepted responsibility once they pre-authorize that card and accept it for charging on their own card.

The original owner of the points hasn't accepted any responsibility for credit issued to the renter nor is any implied from what I read.

The POS seems to only cover damages incurred to the real property at the time of the renter's stay, as far as I can tell.

Could Disney push the issue and hold it over the head of a frightened owner who fears losing their points or booking capabilities? Absolutely. Would it hold up in a court of law? I seriously doubt it.

Just MHO. I'm not an attorney but common sense has to come into play here it seems to me. Disney offered them the intitial credit and they are accountable for collections from the party to whom the credit was issued. I can't see where the third party here (the owner) has any responsibility here at all either real or implied.

 

[disneynutz]

I would love to hear an attorney chime in here.

It seems to me that Disney has an implied transference of accepted responsibility once they pre-authorize that card and accept it for charging on their own card.

The original owner of the points hasn't accepted any responsibility for credit issued to the renter nor is any implied from what I read.

The POS seems to only cover damages incurred to the real property at the time of the renter's stay, as far as I can tell.

Could Disney push the issue and hold it over the head of a frightened owner who fears losing their points or booking capabilities? Absolutely. Would it hold up in a court of law? I seriously doubt it.

Just MHO. I'm not an attorney but common sense has to come into play here it seems to me. Disney offered them the intitial credit and they are accountable for collections from the party to whom the credit was issued. I can't see where the third party here (the owner) has any responsibility here at all either real or implied.

Does it really matter?

I doubt if a Member is going to take Disney or a renter to court. The expense of doing so will be greater than the liability.

Bill

 

[JimMIA]

It seems to me that Disney has an implied transference of accepted responsibility once they pre-authorize that card and accept it for charging on their own card.

Hypothetically, theoretically, we could all have a fine debate over the legal rights/wrongs we think we see with this issue.

But in the real world, what has actually happened is Disney passing the charges on to the DVC owner -- not occasionally...consistently.

It's obvious that DVC has an established policy to charge back unpaid guest bills to the owner. I don't think Disney would take that action if their attorneys hadn't told them it was the proper thing to do. I don't know where the authority for those chargebacks is found, but I'd bet it's in there somewhere.

Whether we agree or disagree, there is no question that responsibility for guests room charges certainly IS one of the real-world risks of renting.

 

[crisi]

Don't know where the chargebacks is, but you take responsibility for actions of your renters and guests in Section 5.1 of the Membership agreement.