Verifying ownership with the resort

I want to rent a timeshare from a redweek ad. I have contacted the owner and have a rental agreement in my hand as well as a copy of a document stating that they own the unit specified in the ad(dated 2006-when purchased).

So I wanted to make sure they STILL owned the unit and called the resort. They told me that they cannot even verify the information that I have(the owners name, address and unit number) because of privacy laws. They said, the owner has to give the resort written consent, in order for the resort to verify ownership with me. So I've asked the owner to do this for me. Hopefully she doesn't mind jumping through another hoop for me.

Thought I would pass this bit of information along, since everything I have read on this forum regarding safe renting practices, says to verify ownership with the resort.

We own 2 weeks and often will rent the rest of the month from another owner off redweek. If renting, depending if the owner owns their timeshare direct through the resort or they are RCI members, you can usually obtain a confirmation of your "reservation" by email from the resort directly, but only after you have had your name placed on as a "guest of the owner" for owners week.

I always insist the owner must first place my name as renter with the resort customer service dept. Owner must confirm to them that you will be using their assigned week and grant their permission for the resort to confirm the reservation change with you when you call to confirm. The owner must send an email follow-up right after the call to the resort for their documentation

As far as sending money I always insist I'm named as the renter / guest first and tell the owner after I have confirmed money will be sent for the rental.

If owner is an RCI member, the actual resort will confirm the owner called in by phone with you and named you as a renter/guest, but they will always refuse to send you a confirmation form in writing that you are renting from their owner, even if they can see the owner bought the timeshare from them directly. If owner is with RCI, anything in writing, must come from RCI directly. It is called a RCI "Guest Certificate" and the cost is $70 for each week certificate with your name on it as a guest. The owner may not want to pay this "fee" and may insist your reservation is good without it..... and it likely is, but you may want to offer to include the $70 with the agreed rental check you will send to the owner for peace of mind.

Either way....... you still are not safe from a scammer that has evil intentions. Should you actually receive a legitimate resort confirmation form by email, naming you as a "guest of the owner" from the resort or a even a "Guest Certificate" obtained directly from RCI (usually by email) even after the $70 fee is paid ....... The owner always maintains complete control of who is named guest. There are no questions asked by the resort should owner decide to take you off and use the timeshare themselves or put someone else's name on the reservation. The guest in never notified by the resort. The owner could decide to sell their unit after you have rented and not report to new owner that you already rented from them so they can keep your money......or could simply rent the unit again to someone else and not notify you or send your money back.

Resorts claim the owner can cancel a guest reservation and name someone else and it is not their problem at all. They will not get involved or mediate anything. If 2 or more "guests" arrive with confirmation documents / cancelled checks etc and both try to check in for the same week, the unit goes to the last named renter. The renter that was scammed (first renter) has no recourse than to find another resort, pay again to rent directly from the resort is space is available or take a plane ride home.

After seeing this happen a number of times personally, I have protected myself in the following way: During the confirming process with the resort, before sending any money to owner and after I have been named as "guest" with the resort customer service by the owner, I call and confirm with the resort the number of years the owner stated to me they have owned the property. I will ask resort if they are aware of any complaints against the owner for renting the unit and cancelling without notification to a prior named renter. I will not rent from any owner with a documented complaint or one that has not owned their unit for at least the last 10 years. The longer the time of ownership without any complaints filed, the more secure the agreement will be for me. The resort may also confirm that the owner has often rented their unit out with no complaints in prior years.

Sometimes your gut will tell you if you are dealing with an honest person. Most people with 10 or more years of ownership are honest. If during the negotiating process with a owner, they demand a payment prior to calling to place your guest reservation with resort or insist on a cashier check or money order up front before putting you on reservation. Back away. I always will send just a personal check for the full amount AFTER confirming I am named as guest. A personal check should be good. Should a renters check be not valid, owner can easily cancel guest name prior to the reservation week. Some say only pay half down and a cashier check for the rest a week prior to reservation date. I've never done it that way and have had good luck to-date. Doubt an owner would rent with those conditions. There are also title companies that will arrange legal documents for a rental agreement, but will charge $300 or more to do so.

It is still difficult to know for certain that the unit remains in your name right up until the reservation date. The owner can change it on the last day or before by simply saying you can not go, so they are naming someone else. If the rental is close to the date of reservation - (2 or 3 weeks out) this is less time for any changes to be made by owner after they have rented from you and you should be secure. If it a longer period out, I email the resort customer service and will contact the actual resort I am staying at by email periodically to verify my name is still a valid guest / renter and have the email as additional documentation. I have never been scammed and hope never to be and have rented 2 weeks for many years from many different owners ...... Just know that the worst can happen and does these days. I have personally seen it happen and have heard of others that got taken by crooked owners so be careful! I could not imagine flying to a resort, then learning I am no longer on the reservation.

When you go, take as much documentation as possible with you to the actual resort incase a rent agreement was done before yours or even after. Remember, it is the last named "guest" named by the owner that gets the unit should more than one guest show up..... no matter what papers you provide. Even legal documents by a title company only give you a better position in case you must go to court to recover you loss. (And who is going to do that if the owner is out of your state or out of the country) If two show up.....short of being roomies for a week, someone will be very disappointed..... with very little recourse other than to try and sue the owner when you get home.

Hope some of this helps protect you some. I do know that redweek customer service may also be able to confirm if owner has rented unit through their listing in the past without complaint. This is why I normally with use them as a second source.

Thank you so much for your thorough explanation of a secure renting process. I do get a good feel from this owner but always better to to be safe:)

Does this go for buying a timeshare from someone else?

vickim238 wrote:

Does this go for buying a timeshare from someone else?

If you are BUYING a timeshare in a private transaction, it is always best to use an objective third party closing entity to handle things, including preparation and recording of new deed. With an outfit like LT Transfers, just to cite one specific example, the total cost for closing services is under $200. In the course of the purchase and sale contract execution and throughout the closing process, any competent closing company will verify ALL details of the current ownership (including obtaining an estoppel letter from the resort, to verify unit and week details and to confirm that the seller's account is completely paid up to date). The closing entity will also acquire a copy of the current recorded deed, either online from public records or directly from the owner (or both). The owner(s) will have to obtain NOTARIZED signature(s) as the "grantor(s)" on the new deed. The role of a third party "arm's length" closing company is to look out for the interests of EVERYONE involved in the resale transaction that they are handling, including escrow of purchase funds, if the amount involved warrants escrow of the purchase money. Seller does not receive any proceeds money until EVERYTHING is verified and fully completed.

By the way, it was completely inappropriate for the resort employee mentioned in the norav16 post above (from 2015) to decline to verify owner information which a prospective tenant clearly already possessed. Privacy laws exist to protect the unauthorized, unilateral RELEASE of owner information, but there was no good reason to decline to simply VERIFY the owner information which the prospective tenant ALREADY POSSESSED. That was a clueless resort employee who offered that misinformed and unhelpful response. He or she clearly needed some training in order to understand the proper application of "privacy laws", instead of unnecessarily impeding and obstructing an owner's pending rental.

Thank you for taking the time to share this.