Point Rental; Reasonable questions you ask before renting

[Stevep2002]

Greetings,

Due Diligence: what types of questions do you ask a person who has points to rent? References?Sample contract? Payment options? How did you get the points?

I’m new to renting points and have noticed renting points directly from an individual may have higher success vs a broker. But I’m leery.
Someone who has hundreds of points with multiple resorts should I question? Thanks for the help.

 

[Noodlez]

Are you renting from a site such as this? If so, you should be able to check out their posting history. Most people offering points will also state how they wish to be paid. I definitely wouldn’t consider it unreasonable to see any contract before agreeing to the terms.

One thing I think you definitely shouldn’t ask is how they got their points. I don’t even ask close friends how they pay for their house or their vacations. It really isn’t your business. I’m not sure how it would affect anything anyway! Some people have very high paying jobs and a lot of spare money and can purchase with cash without much consideration, some work extremely hard at low paying roles for years and eventually manage to cover the cost of a loan, some inherit the points or the money from parents, and a million other options in between. Is there a ‘type’ of owner you’d prefer not to rent from?

If there’s a particular reason you have concerns about the person you’re renting from (for example, a stranger on social media) then you may need to trust your gut and pay a little more to use a broker instead.

 

[Sandisw]

Just to clarify...you dont actual rent points but rather rent a reservation that an owner books with their DVC points,

When renting, its really a matter of trust as the reservation stays in control of the owner until check in. Most require full payment, and have very restrictive cancel policies.

The savings can be great, but you want to really be comfortable with some of the drawbacks vs, booking with Disney.

In terms of a private rental, you just have to ask for references, a contract, and if using this site, as mentioned, look at posting history.

When you use a broker, they do hold some of the funds from the owner until you check in and will be there to help if something goes wrong that is on the owners end,

Just be sure to report I’d you get an private messages here about rentals As there have been concerns of scams done that way.

 

[CarolMN]

The first post in the Required Reading Thread has lots of good advice and links with valuable information for prospective renters. It's pinned to the top of the DIS Rent/Trade Forum.

REQUIRED READING BEFORE POSTING - DVC Rent/Trade policies - UPDATED - 09/01/2019

 

[Deb & Bill]

Scammers are getting more and more devious with the way they operate. They copy a reservation they got from an owner, change the info on it to your need, make up an email address that is very similar to the real owner of the points. They go to the County Comptroller website and find owner names and contracts there. Be cautious if you are renting for the first time.

 

[Brett Wyman]

If it's your first time renting DVC, rent from a reputable broker. Plain and simple. Let the broker vet the owner and take the burden off of you. Its work the extra $1 or $2 per point.