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Re: How can I rent a timeshare? (by Joe L.):

jennie wrote:

Please Richiel and anyone else reading the above post by joel232, DO NOT TRUST HIS ADVICE. The information he presents is "wishful thinking" and if followed can result in dire consequences for the renter and owner. He's got things all mixed up.

If one owns a "floating" week at a resort, the reservation is made directly through the resort. RCI and I.I. are in no way involved in the process. The owner may not even be a member of either of the exchange companies. The week reserved by the owner can definitely be rented and the owner can charge whatever price he wishes. There is no need for a guest certificate. The resort has it's own procedure for recording the name(s) of the person(s) who will be using the unit. They rarely, if ever, charge any fee for this.Some resorts accept the info from the owner by phone. Some require that the owner sign a letter or form and fax or mail it to the resort. Once this has been done, the renter will usually be sent a reservation in their name by the resort. Or the owner will provide them with a letter to present at check-in verifying that they have your permission to use their reserved unit. And the resort will almost always verify that everything is in order via a phone call from the renter.

If, however, the owner deposited (space-banked) either a "fixed deeded" week or a floating week with RCI or II, they are bound by the rules these exchange companies have established, no matter how unfair they feel the rules are, and no matter how vehemently we owners are opposed to it. And make no mistake about it, most knowledgeable owners HATE THIS RULE. There have been endless discussions about it on the Timeshare Users Group web site ("TUG")www.tug2.net. and in Timesharing Today Magazine www.tstoday.com.

Not every owner is aware of the rule. RCI quietly "slipped it" into the Terms and Conditions of membership about 5 years ago. It is buried in fine print near the end of the 400+ page RCI book. They never sent notice to members, nor did they mention it anywhere on their web site. Some owners who did not know about the rule change, learned about it "the hard way." Their RCI membership was suspended, if this was their first "offense," and was terminated "forever" if they were caught trying to do it again.

RCI employees (dubbed "the RCI police" by TUG members) have responed to rental ads on TUG, Redweek, MyResortnetwork, and Ebay, posing as potential renters to obtain enough information to catch people trying to rent out an exchanged week. I personally know two people who were "caught." One person was totally clueless about the rule. The other was aware of it but thought they could "get away with it." In both instances the exchanged week was cancelled and the renters were notified that they could not use the week. The renter of the clueless owner was kind and understanding and did not make any "waves" after the rental fee was returned. The second couple renting from the "slick" owner was furious. They had scheduled vacation time off from their jobs and had purchased non-refundable airline tickets. They threatened a lawsuit. The owner chose to pay the exorbitant "rack rate" to book a comparable unit at the resort for the renters.

I have heard of another situation where the renter showed up with an RCI guest certificate but mentioned during the check-in processs that they had rented the week through the Internet from people they did not know personally. The resort called RCI and the couple was denied use of the unit. They left vowing to sue "everyone."

There's another issue I have not seen discussed here. If RCI confirms an exchange for an owner/member, and the occupants to whom it has been "illegally" rented cause damage or other problems, the resort could initate legal action against the owner, and there would not be any RCI back-up assistance and protection to pursue and settle the matter. If I deposit my week with RCI and the personsRCI give it to as an exchange cause damage, RCI is ultimatelty responsible for remedying the problem if the resort is unable to collect enough from the exchange guest. So it is darn right risky for an owner to rent an exchange.

Many of us have decided to rent our own weeks directly on web sites like Redweek, and not deposit them with RCI. Previously, when I would deposit one of our prime weeks, I would have to wait months, or even years, before knowing if we would get one of the weeks we were requesting as an exchange. Sometimes, despite a 12-15 week wait, we would be told that nothing had yet been found for us. Meanwhile the weeks we wanted would be showing up on auction and rental sites owned or affiliated with Cendant (RCI's parent company). Finally, a major class action lawsuit has been filed accusing Cendant and RCI of renting weeks to the general, non-timesharing owning public--weeks that were deposited by RCI member/owners that should have been available solely for member exchanges, not rented by RCI and Cendant for profit, to the detriment of member/owners.

I now rent weeks we cannot use, mainly through ads placed here on Redweek. In most instances the rental fee barely covers our maintenance fees. But I'm glad to receive that help in covering our bills, and am glad to know that some nice, hardworking or retired folks have been able to have a nice vacation at a bargain price. Many have sent me lovely "thank you" notes, pictures, even a token gift or two after returning. And 3 couples have rented from us again each year; in fact, one couple has rented our Cancun unit for 8 years in a row! Another is going back in April for the 3rd year. These smart folks have learned how to enjoy the benefits of a timeshare vacation without having to spend the big $$$ to purchase a week.My loss is their gain.

When we are able to take a vacation, I go right to Redweek and rent what we need from a Redweek member. We are in effect doing an RCI exchange without the cost and aggravation and uncertainty of going through RCI. RCI has been losing a lot of prime week space-bank deposits from owners like me because of all the greedy "games" they have been playing. I have heard from a reliable source that RCI is losing far more members each year than they are gaining, despite billions of dollars of new timeshare sales that have taken place in recent years.

Bottom line, please read the rules before accepting joel232's word that it's okay to rent an exchanged week. It would be great if RCI would change the rule, but they have a vested interest in not doing so. And if you are an RCI or II member, you are bound by the rules of membership rules, whether they are fair or not.

Some of the smaller, independent exchange companies MAY have different rules (or lax enforcement). I haven't reviewed their policies lately. But you might want to check out the San Francisco Exchang Company, Donita's Dial-an-exchange, Trading Places, etc...

I am not disagreeing with Jennie's statements above. I just believe this a RIDUCULOUS rule for these exchange companies to try and enforce because they will continue to lose members such as myself if they try to impose these UNFAIR rules. They are also cutting their own throats by imposing these as that is less weeks deposited, and less transfer and guest fees collected if they impose these rules. And it will drive us to other exchange companies. Jennie, do most resorts let you deposit with ANY exchange company? How does that work if your resort is only affiliated with RCI or II?