Rental Gone Bad / DO NOT USE BROKER [Merged]

[DeniseM]

On the TUG advice page there are some sample rental agreements (top of forum.)

 

[theo]

Hi Theo, I'm looking to lease out my timeshare with Marriott for a Christmas week, and it's the first time doing so. I was considering using a broker to handle all the paperwork. After reading your quote, and some of the other problems mentioned in this forum, I think I've changed my mine, and will attempt to handle this myself. It sounds like you've had a lot experience with this. Can you direct me to a source whereby I might find some templates of a contracts that I might be able to plagiarize. Thanks Roy

I don't know anything at all about Marriott, but can't / won't they handle a rental for you (for a hefty fee, of course)?
Going that route, you would have no responsibility for whomever they might find. That observation aside however, there is access to sample rental agreements via the avenue mentioned by "DeniseM of the very cool shades" in the preceding post.

 

[DeniseM]

Thanks, Theo - this is my St. Patrick's day avatar. Marriott may rent it, but they charge a high fee.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

The best way to go on renting out a Marriott is Redweek hands down. That's where many Marriott renters go to look. It's very easy as long as your rental is either the lowest price or you have knowledge that the demand is high enough that the market will catch up to your price. Don't do the full service or escrow option.

It's too bad more Marriott renters don't look on tug which is free, but it is what it is.

 

[Holly328]

Hi. A few questions, if I may;

1) I'm looking to rent, but I can't offer any specifics yet. What happens if you get there and the place is a mess? I don't want to have to deal with the last renter, or the owner. Does it turn into a he says, she says thing?

2) I'm looking at rentals from EBay, Sell My Timeshare Now, etc. I'm lookin for rentals who's dates are coming up. If you send them a low ball offer are they Moore apt to take what they can get to help with their costs, or tell you what to go do with yourself out of pride?

 

[DeniseM]

That's not how it works - owners have no responsibility for cleaning. Between guests, the resort housekeeping staff comes in and cleans the condo and gets it ready for the next guest. At a high rated resort, you would certainly not find a mess from the previous guest. It's easy to determine a resort's ratings online. (Like the TUG ratings and reviews.)

An owner is more likely to accept a lower offer on a last minute rental if they have to rent it. However, in some cases, the owner can still cancel the reservation and/or move it to a later date at the last minute, so they may not be motivated to entertain a low-ball offer. I am not offended by low-ball offers, but sometimes I am annoyed by the tone, and I just delete those emails.

 

[MattnTricia]

[Threads merged.]

This is a cautionary tale to all who use a broker to do a timeshare rental.

I have never used one before and I will never use one again. I much prefer my own contract which is fair and reasonable.

Due to computer glitch - Honest to god glitch - What one could call an act of god with my timeshare company a reservation got canceled about a week after I rented it. and only a few weeks after I booked it.

The company has had issues with missing points, reservations going missing, inability to book availability online that is really available..... since their switch to the new computer system.

To confirm some speculation from another thread The company never let me know and this was not them enforcing their somewhat vague policy on rentals. Their comment is simply it was done online. This fact is it is completely impossible that I canceled online as I didn't log in during the week period after I added the guest certificate. They do not have a way to log or track this info.

Immediately upon learning of the cancellation I refunded the broker their deposit(not full payment) and let them know the situation. The broker took the refund but said I had to replace the week and was obligated to do so per their contract. I explained to them this was an "ACT OF GOD" and I was not responsible for this glitch. They obviously disagreed and choose to pay $1300 more for a similar reservation that what I had rented it for. They immediately demanded I pay them for this overage knowing full well they are still making their full commision despite this issue. I offered to discuss making them whole for any legitimate money they were out of pocket considering the situation but they would not even discuss a middle ground.

They have now gotten a lawyer involved in UTAH to not only try and collect the $1300 but also collect $250 for their services. This $250 is for the simple task of writing me a letter to try and collect these fees.

I obviously am going to fight the collection effort and respond back that I am disputing the debt.

Any other advice on how to proceed?

 

[TUGBrian]

who was the broker, and what did the rental agreement between you and them stipulate for such instances?

 

[ecwinch]

You signed a contract to rent a week to another party.
You cannot fulfill your contractual obligations, resulting in a breach of contract.
Remedy for a total breach of contract - which this would seem to be - is recovery of damages in an amount equal to the value the other party would have received had the contract been fully performed by you, including lost profits.

You could challenge that a valid contract was formed. Given that you have a written contract, that would seem to be problematic.
The other party does have a good faith obligation to mitigate their damages, so you could investigate if there was a comparable rental that was less expensive.
But I don't think the Act of God defense has legs. A computer glitch is not typically viewed as an Act of God.
Your recovery would seem to be against the timeshare company, but you bear the burden of proof there.

In the future if this happens, I would advise securing and offering alternative comparable accommodations. That way you mitigate their damages and avoid a total breach of contract.

 

[theo]

You signed a contract to rent a week to another party.
You cannot fulfill your contractual obligations, resulting in a breach of contract.
Remedy for a total breach of contract - which this would seem to be - is recovery of damages in an amount equal to the value the other party would have received had the contract been fully performed by you, including lost profits.

You could challenge that a valid contract was formed. Given that you have a written contract, that would seem to be problematic.
The other party does have a good faith obligation to mitigate their damages, so you could investigate if there was a comparable rental that was less expensive.
But I don't think the Act of God defense has legs. A computer glitch is not typically viewed as an Act of God.
Your recovery would seem to be against the timeshare company, but you bear the burden of proof there.

In the future if this happens, I would advise securing and offering alternative comparable accommodations. That way you mitigate their damages and avoid a total breach of contract.

I agree 100% with all of the above quoted input regarding the OP's contract situation.
Additionally, I'll note that the "act of God" logic or argument ain't gonna fly for a reservation issue within company computers.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

What does this have to do with a broker? If you hadn't used a broker wouldn't you still have the same problem of not being able to deliver on the contract? All of my rental agreements state that I must deliver the reservation stated in the contract. If I am unable to do that then I am in breach.

It seems to me that the title should read "Do not rent your "XXXX" timeshare" rather than a caution on using a broker. I would never use a broker personally but a broker doesn't add more obligations than what should already be there.

I also agree with the others. I have "act of God" type of language in my rental agreements but a reservation that is cancelled is definitely not an act of God. Reservations cannot cancel themselves. It might not have been your fault but it definitely is not the renter's or broker's fault. Your issue is with the timeshare company that is supposed to be acting on your behalf. They are acting as your agent so their mistake is really your mistake in the eyes of the agreement. It stinks but that is the truth.

 

[SmithOp]

You have posted this before and got no sympathy, nothing has changed. Suck it up, I'm sure you have made a profit exploiting the reservations in the past.

Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

 

[MattnTricia]

Sympathy I am not looking for.

Reasonable advice is a different story.

The situation is unfortunate and the broker refused to budge even slightly on their demands.

I offered a compromise but they wanted no part of it and instead went ahead with a way over priced retal that want me to compensate them for.

My concern now is the lawyer adding additional fees on top of the original request .

I was hoping someone might have had experience with UTAH small claims court or could advise on how this would proceed since I am out fo state.

TUG has always been a great resource for information and to help when situations like this occur.

 

[bnoble]

You are now in the realm of wanting legal advice. That's what lawyers are for.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

Sympathy I am not looking for.

Reasonable advice is a different story.

The situation is unfortunate and the broker refused to budge even slightly on their demands.

I offered a compromise but they wanted no part of it and instead went ahead with a way over priced retal that want me to compensate them for.

My concern now is the lawyer adding additional fees on top of the original request .

I was hoping someone might have had experience with UTAH small claims court or could advise on how this would proceed since I am out fo state.

TUG has always been a great resource for information and to help when situations like this occur.

Could you have provided another rental at a cheaper price? You state what they found was overpriced but legally you need to be prepared to show that had you been given the opportunity you could have provided a rental for a lesser price and you have to include the broker's commission because that was part of your contract. I think that is your only leg to stand on.

In the end this is going to be a settlement issue. They were asking for $1,300 but it didn't sound like you wanted to budge which is why they are pursuing it and the amount is now bigger. It is going to grow even bigger if they continue to pursue it legally. You can either try and settle or let it go. Fighting it is not going to make it any better.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Hard to shallow ... but Saintsfanfl is right.

The rental agent provided a tenant .. your part was to provide a condo. Your supplier burned you ... but that is neither the realtor's issue or the renter's issue. YOU SOLD A PRODUCT ... this was not an ACT OF GOD ... the resort was open for business.

How would you felt if you were the GUEST and paid someone who took your money and who then did not provide the rooms you paid for. And the middle man ... acted as he should ... make his buyer as WHOLE as he could (spent a lot more money than he made) and NOW expects you to make him WHOLE ... repay him .. including HIS PROFIT and HIS COSTS to fixed what you could NOT DELIVER.

Sort of like ... the kid who has to stay after school but his defense is "THE DOG ATE MY HOMEWORK."

 

[tschwa2]

Even if you had not been using a broker you would have needed to provide equivalent accommodations to your renter. Now they may not have had the resources or chosen to legally pursue the matter but they may have posted several negative comments about you as a renter. It really is just the cost of doing business to suck it up and pay whatever you need to to make it right. If this is a one time problem with your management company than great. If it is a regular occurrence you may not want to rent it out.

 

[ecwinch]

Reasonable advice is a different story.

I offered a compromise but they wanted no part of it and instead went ahead with a way over priced retal that want me to compensate them for.

I was hoping someone might have had experience with UTAH small claims court or could advise on how this would proceed since I am out fo state.

TUG has always been a great resource for information and to help when situations like this occur.

Does your contract have a jurisdiction or governing law clause that outlines which courts will have the right to adjudicate disputes under the contract?

And yes, you can expect the meter to run while the other party pursues resolution. They paid money out of their pocket to ensure they were not in breach of contract with their renter. I doubt they pursue this in small claims court, unless you have assets in Utah they can secure a lien against.

 

[DeniseM]

Here are the terms from one of their contracts:

 

[DeniseM]

Let me just say that I really do have sympathy for the OP. If this happened to me, I would be really ticked off - at the timeshare management company who cancelled the reservation. However, as others have posted, when you do business, there are some inherent risks, and you have to chalk it up to the cost of doing business, and try to figure out how to avoid it in the future.

 

[ecwinch]

Well said Denise. While I empathize with the OP also, I would figure out how to settle. In the contract he agreed to everything they are doing. Fighting it is only going to run up the bill.

 

[theo]

Without comment or opinion, I refer the would-be landlord to post #23 in this thread, which seems to quote verbatim some pertinent HGVC terms and conditions regarding rental for commercial purposes.

I agree wholeheartedly with ecwinch that the OP should be seeking a prompt and mutually acceptable settlement.
Digging the heels in to fight what is clearly a lost cause is just going to get a lot more expensive in a very big hurry.