point rentals gone bad?

[chloetta1]

I've never seen any discussion here about rental deals that went bad. Is there a place to discuss this when it happens or doesn't it happen?

 

[mitcam]

you will occasionally see posts where rentals did not go as planned. Not really sure when I saw the last one maybe 6 months or so. Anyways, as a person who owns DVC, has rented from other owners (before I owned) and have rented out on 3 occasions I have some experience being on all sides of the equations.

You will see in these forums frequent cautions from experienced DVCers (which I do not claim to be!) One suggestion that everyone makes is look for frequent posters. Be cautious who you choose to rent from. Some people have strong opinions about renters. Some people use it as a little business most use it when they have points they aren't able to use or just want cash for an alternative vacation plan (which is why we rented ours out!)

Try to rent from someone in your home state you may have more legal recourse should something go wrong!

Personally I am glad you don't see alot of deals gone bad! I would hope if they occur people post so all sides are well represented on these boards.

Good Luck
Carolyn

 

[Desnik]

We have rented from these boards twice before we bought into DVC this Nov. Everything went smoothly. I have been on these boards for a long ime and I can only remember 1 rental deal going bad. It was discussed on the rent/trade board. When renting I always went to someone who has been on the boards for awhile, like over a year. Also has alot of posts. I would read their past post to kinda get a fell for them. You can ask for references. Sometimes they are ebay'ers and you could read their feedback there. This type of transaction is based on trust on both ends. We always pay half at time of booking. After receiving confirmation # and calling to check the ressie was made. We like to use paypal. You do save a ton of money renting. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[tjkraz]

I think instances of bad rentals are VERY rare. I remember one situation here that I believe eneded up being an honest mistake. If memory serves, it had to do with someone who rented points right before he sold his contract. When a contract changes hands, all existing reservations are cancelled by DVC.

Other than that, as long as you are careful in who you deal with, you shouldn't have any problems. Four things I would recommend:

1. If you're looking for a rental partner here, choose someone with a high post count. You can't get 1000+ posts to your credit overnight, and it seems pretty unlikely that someone would roam these boards for months and then start scamming folks out of their hard-earned $$$.

2. Actually speak to the person on the phone. Don't simply rely on email as your only form of communications.

3. Have a written contract that explains all the terms of the deal including when payments are due and what cancellation provisions are allowed (if any.)

4. Ask for references from prior rentals. We rented a couple of times before becoming members ourselves. And, after each transaction (both of which went perfectly) I always told the renters that I'd be happy to serve as a reference if needed.

Good luck, and welcome to The DIS!

 

[Dean]

I rent occasionally, about once a year or just over, but in the past a little more. But I've had maybe 10 years experience overall so the numbers add up. I've had two problems. One where a member was acting as a go between but I didn't know that. They made an agreement then their friends backed out so the member (also of this board) backed out, it left a bad taste in my mouth. The other was a person that had second thoughts about the non refundable issues and went back on their word. I've also had a couple of people with family issues/illness that lost part or all of their stay.