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Tips on Renting Out Timeshare (by Marie M.):

phill12

jennie wrote:

Timesharing Today Magazine sells a rental and also a sale kit at a very reasonable price. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jennie I'm not a lawyer so until something goes wrong I wonder just how much these forms would work.

I really doubt most people renting a timeshare for a week are going to hand over their credit card number to a owner.

Many owners are hard working honest people but lets face it the timeshares industry is full of crooked low-lifes from the time you buy at a resort until the time you get rid of it.

I really do not understand why this should even be a problem. When we check in the resort always takes your credit card so it is on file. You would think any damage would be taken from their card.

What is the difference how someone came to spend seven days at the timeshare. You rent to me or I get it from II or RCI. Do RCI or II pay for damage if my family break something.

Normally when you check your unit there is a form for you to sign showing the unit and whats in it and the resort has your Visa/Maser Card on file.

I as a owner or guest at another timeshare would be responseable for damage so why is a renter different! PHIL

The rental lease forms do not require the renter to provide their credit card number to the owner. It just informs them that they will be required to provide a valid credit card to the Front Desk staff when they check in. It also requires that they agree to be financially responsible for any damage they or their guests might cause. When they sign the lease, they are agreeing to all of these (and about 20 other) terms set forth in the lease. The owner of Timesharing Today Magazine is a lawyer and he seems to have covered every possible contingency in the lease.

There have been a few (very few!) instances when a renter caused damage and the resort could not collect from the credit card company. Either the person did not have a high enough credit line to cover the cost, or disputed the charge and the credit card company sided with him and did a "charge-back" to the resort. Although it could be a "nightmare scenerio" if the renter lives in another state, the owner would have a better chance of sucessfully suing the renter based upon the terms of the lease that he/she had agreed to, if the resort comes after the owner for the uncollected damage.

If an owner uses his own unit and causes damage, and somehow tries to avoid payment of a lawful charge, the resort has options such as denying the owner future use of the unit until he pays, or even eventually foreclosing on it.

RCI and I.I. have certain contractual obligations when one of their members causes damage to a unit they received as an exchange. And the exchange companies have the resources to pursue collection through civil lawsuits if the exchanger is able to win a credit card dispute. But the credit card companies will seldom do a charge-back when RCI or II files a rebuttal and provides the tons of "fine print" that an owner has signed as part of their membership agreement with RCI or II. If they go after the exchanger, there are heavy court costs added to the bill. Most people who find themselves in that situation would rather settle by paying for the damage. Their chance of winning in court is slim.

If an owner illegally rents a unit he has received as an RCI or II exchange, the resort will come after the owner if they cannot collect from the renter. They really don't care how they get their money. They will take the easiest route. And if it ever gets to court, the fact that you "illegally" rented the unit will not sit well with the judge or arbitrator who has to rule on the case.

I know I keep mentioning the Timeshare Users Group www.tug2.net as a great source of information about timesharing. Issues like this have been discussed several times throughout the 12 years I have been a member. In this, plus many other areas of life, there are laws governing human behaviour. I'm sure we can all cite many laws we think are unfair. But so long as it is the law, that is what will determine the outcome of a litigated matter. We need to deal with "what is" not what we wish it is, or think it is.