Original Message:
Re: Preston Green / Vacation Homes Only Fraud Warning (by Tracey S.):
I have a question, and this is for you and for other brokers who take money for a reservation and don't immediately have the owner put the reservation in the renters name. Why is this? I had a unit up for rent and was contacted by a broker. Within 24 hours of receiving a deposit, I placed the unit in the name of the client of the broker and was able to email out a confirmation and confirmation number in the clients name and I was paid the full amount of my advertised rental price within the week as agreed upon 8 months prior to the start of the reservation. While having a reservation in the owners name doesn't guarantee that the owner won't cancel, it would seem that it would give your clients some peace of mind. The client could check weekly or daily for that matter and would know in advance if their was a problem with a change in size of the unit or a cancellation. Having a confirmed reservation also alleviates the problem you mentioned about owners booking the wrong dates or the wrong size.