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Some rental thoughts... (by KC):

angelab357 wrote:

Seems the renter has all the risk....

The function and purpose of an escrow service is to ensure that the money component is in the hands of an uninvolved, objective, third party. It is certainly NOT true that the renter carries all the risk, since the owner doesn't even receive payment from the escrow service at all until several weeks AFTER the rental has already taken place. For this reason, many owners simply refuse to have an escrow service involved at all with their rentals, even if the renter is the one paying the escrow service fee! Keep in mind that an owner has to have already paid their annual maintenance fee long in advance, usually at the beginning of the calendar year. Waiting until weeks AFTER a rental is already completed to receive the rental payment is simply unacceptable to many owners.

Your rental could perhaps have been handled a bit differently:

A formal, mutually signed, rental agreement (which is a contract, legally binding upon BOTH parties) could have been executed directly between the owner and the renter. Such short term lease agreement contracts are "a dime a dozen" and are readily available all over the Internet, for free.

It could be argued that an "escrow service" need never have been required or involved here in the first place. For example, if you had successful communications directly with the owner, you could have provided a 50% deposit along with a signed rental contract. The owner could then easily have obtained (and then provided to you) documentary proof that the reservation was made in your name and return a copy of the signed contract back to you. By a mutually agreed date, clearly and specifically identified within the contract, you could have provided the owner with the remaining balance due. Thereafter, you could also very easily confirm the reservation being in your name, with a single phone call to the resort. Yes, there is some measure of trust involved --- and that's a personal decision for both owner and renter to make. A rental contract and travel insurance would still have been simpler (and a lot less expensive) than involving an "escrow service".

As an owner, I generally use (and I only VERY rarely rent out) my timeshare weeks. When I do rent out a week, the matter is handled directly between me and the renter. I have never felt any particular need or reason to complicate matters with the additional expense and / or involvement of a distant, third party "escrow service". Then again, perhaps you and / or the owner in this case harbor a very different viewpoint, which is certainly your prerogative...