For those who rent your units .....

[Carolyn]

What proof of ownership do you give potential renters? The owner of the unit I want to rent accepts PayPal or bank transfer. She wants entire rental up front before she issues any kind of confirmation. This makes me a little nervous. What do you think?

 

[vacationtime1]

I provide my would-be tenants with a redacted copy of the reservation showing my name, the resort, the unit type, and the week reserved. I black out the reservation number and my contact info.

They are entitled to see that I have a reservation for the week I propose to rent to them and that the unit size and week are as represented.

 

[chapjim]

I have never refused to provide some kind of proof that I have what I am selling. Most of my rentals are Wyndham resorts and providing a reservation confirmation is pretty easy (not as easy as it used to be, however). If the seller can't or won't provide a reservation confirmation for a Wyndham reservation, move on.

Some resorts with fixed weeks don't provide a reservation confirmation because it there is no reservation. So, I get an email guest confirmation from the resort and send it to my renter.

In addition to getting some kind of confirmation from the seller, you want to be certain it is not an exchange through an exchange company. The confirmation should have the resort or the resort system in the header, not RCI.

All in all, I think a seller who wants 100% from the renter and refuses to provide any confirmation that a reservation exists is not being reasonable. I'd move on.

Nemo dat quod non habet. (although some try!)

 

[theo]

In the case of fixed weeks / units at independent (non-"chain") resorts, there is really no hard copy "reservation confirmation" available to provide.
Although I only rarely rent out any weeks, when I do so I invite and strongly encourage the nervous prospective tenant to call the resort directly themselves, to independently verify to their own personal satisfaction that I am indeed the owner of exactly what is being offered for rent. If that isn't good enough for them, well...there is nearly always a less "high maintenance" and more reasonable tenant-to-be right around the corner.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

Almost all of my renters pay up without asking for any type of confirmation. My independent resorts always confirm to the renter if they call whether I grant permission or not. If someone presses me for a Marriott confirmation I send them a redacted or a screen shot of the units in my account. Any renter that is too high maintenance I pass on because my prices are way too cheap to bother. I made the mistake a year ago of accommodating a very high maintenance renter that managed to illegally change the reservation with Owner Services on their own. Never again. This same renter was flabbergasted this year that I did not promptly send them all available dates 18 months in advance with rental prices lower than maintenance fees. I said I was too busy. I never had the heart to tell them what a pita they were. I am all about customer service but I break even on my rentals so I can only do so much.

 

[slip]

I verify availability and then book the unit. When I email them the confirmation, they can verify the reservation by calling the resort. After that, they either pay a PayPal invoice or I call to get their credit card information. They pay in full at that time.

 

[DeniseM]

How to confirm that your rental is Legit:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/index....ntal-is-legit-when-you-are-the-renter.109479/

An uncooperative owner may be a scammer, or he may just be unbusinesslike - either way, it's not worth taking a chance.

Not too many weeks ago, another Tugger asked a similar question, and we urged them to get documentation before they sent any money. But "it was such a good deal," that they sent the money upfront without doing their due dilligence, and they got scammed....

 

[Carolyn]

I want to thank everyone for all the good advice. I posted a "wish ad" in the classified section and someone responded with a unit and price that was too good to be true. In addition she would not provide proof of ownership or show me any type of confirmation. I asked for references and also a phone number. When I googled the phone number, it came up as a scam phone number. I also have a feeling her "reference" was a bogus email also, even though I never contacted them. So it looks like there are scammers that are trolling the Tug wish lists. Just be careful.

 

[am1]

I have never refused to provide some kind of proof that I have what I am selling. Most of my rentals are Wyndham resorts and providing a reservation confirmation is pretty easy (not as easy as it used to be, however). If the seller can't or won't provide a reservation confirmation for a Wyndham reservation, move on.

A lot more complicated then that. There can be a bunch of reason why an owner does not have a copy of the reservation at the moment of sale. In the thousands of rentals I did I was rarely asked about proof of ownership.

 

[chapjim]

A lot more complicated then that. There can be a bunch of reason why an owner does not have a copy of the reservation at the moment of sale. In the thousands of rentals I did I was rarely asked about proof of ownership.

I don't recall ever being asked about proof of ownership either. I was only talking about reservation confirmations, which I maintain prospective renters have a right to ask for and should reasonably expect to get before sending money to someone known only by an email address and maybe a PO box number.

The only time I don't have a reservation confirmation readily available is for fixed weeks and mostly, it's not a problem. But if I have to, I send my renter a guest confirmation before receiving payment.

 

[am1]

I guess I was more then an e-mail address or just lucky.

 

[chapjim]

I guess I was more then an e-mail address or just lucky.

When you were first contacted by a prospective renter, you were a mere email address. Same as the rest of us.

 

[ilya]

I want to thank everyone for all the good advice. I posted a "wish ad" in the classified section and someone responded with a unit and price that was too good to be true. In addition she would not provide proof of ownership or show me any type of confirmation. I asked for references and also a phone number. When I googled the phone number, it came up as a scam phone number. I also have a feeling her "reference" was a bogus email also, even though I never contacted them. So it looks like there are scammers that are trolling the Tug wish lists. Just be careful.

the same thing happened to me. It was for a4 bedroom unit at the Smoky Lodge. She would only text me but would not answer when I called. Needless to say, I didn't continue.. then a few days later she was offering me my 3 bedroom unit that I had advertised.

 

[am1]

When you were first contacted by a prospective renter, you were a mere email address. Same as the rest of us.

Then I was just lucky in the thousands of rentals I did. Up until the last 10 months I did cancel and rebook for all my reservations. Only way I could make the prices work. I do not remember anyone walking because I could not provide a confirm.

 

[MOXJO7282]

An owner should easily be able to provide proof so if they can't that of course is a tell tale sign the person is renting a II or RCI exchange or is indeed a scammer. Marriott makes it easy and I as a matter of practice provide a potential renter Marriott's number and let them know they can call Marriott and confirm my ownership.

 

[am1]

An owner should easily be able to provide proof so if they can't that of course is a tell tale sign the person is renting a II or RCI exchange or is indeed a scammer. Marriott makes it easy and I as a matter of practice provide a potential renter Marriott's number and let them know they can call Marriott and confirm my ownership.

Maybe when dealing with a few rentals. But when dealing with hundreds it is different.

 

[DeniseM]

The process is some-what different for Wyndham points owners who rebook(ed) their reservations after the reservation is rented (for lower points.) With most other systems, the owner has the reservation in-hand and can provide documentation upfront to the potential renter, and they won't be re-booking it and changing the reservation info. at a later date.

For most other systems, renting a reservation that you don't already have in hand would be considered a questionable business practice, because there is zero guarantee that they owner can actually secure the reservation at a later date.