Private rental vs a broker?

[jenins121681]

Hi,

I've never rented dvc points before...I've tried David's and ************** but neither had the points that I needed available to rent...

My question is if you rent points privately are there any safeguards? How can you protect yourself from being ripped off? Thank you.

 

[Denmage]

Renting privately is, admittedly, a huge leap of faith. My best advice would be to CALL the person you are renting from and talk to them on the phone. Don't just rely on messaging.

I have rented my points several times, here on the DISboards. I always give people my phone number and encourage them to call. I try to be organized and informed to give renters a more comfortable experience. So far (knock wood) every rental has gone off without a hitch and everyone has been satisfied.

My experience is that the people here on the DISboards are legitimate, Disney loving people who share Disney values. If you stick to renting from people here, you should be able to get the rental you want with as little trouble as possible.

Good Luck,

Denis

 

[Friendlyadvice2]

While there is no way to completely prevent someone who is determined to engage in fraud, there are ways to gain a level of comfort that is right for you. In my experience, rental fraud is very limited.

As Denmage said, a call with the DVC owner is always a great thing. You should also check the Orange County property records to verify the DVC owner actually owns the property. That can be done all online. Go to: http://www.occompt.com/ and click on "Records Search" on the right.

Looking at the owners "post history" on the site you're using will also shed light on their character, legitimacy, and experience renting. Ask for references of people they have rented to in the past.

The owner should be willing to make the reservation before you provide any form of payment and provide you with a confirmation number and screen shot showing your particulars.

You'd also be surprised what a generic internet search will reveal! I once found a owner asking way too much per point for an existing reservation and decided to do a little research based on some of his comments. I was able to determine that he recently went through a "quetionable" bankruptcy and a had a few other concerns in his past that I was not comfortable with. It might of worked out fine renting from him, but I would not have been able to reach the level of comfort I needed to do business with him.

You can do some or all of these things in order to gain the level of comfort your're happy with. Any one of these checks does not guarantee legitimacy, but in most case if you take the totality of the circumstances, you should be able to easily find the right transaction for you. I've done it many times with NO problems. Good luck!

 

[RobDoc]

Be sure to read the **How to use this Board** thread near the top of the DVC Rent/Trade Board. There are a lot of suggestions there about protecting yourself when renting.

The most important factor is that you have trust in the person you are working with. Get personal information from them, get (and check) references, look up their membership info on the appropriate county website (not all members will be listed on the Orange County site since some own in Vero, Hilton Head, CA and Hawaii).

I would also suggest looking at past posts of the members renting to get an idea what type of person they might be and if they few (or no) posts, take that into consideration when working with them.

While due diligence is certainly appropriate, there have been very few cases over the years where someone has been taken advantage of with a DVC rental. Do your homework and enjoy the process!

 

[jenins121681]

Thank you everyone for your tips!! I just rented points at $11/pt for BLT! So excited!!