Escrow fee

What is a redweek escrow fee? Is this necessary in renting a timeshare? If so, how much is it?

Here is the page with all the details: http://www.redweek.com/resources/rental_process/escrow/

It is $100 for rentals up to $1000 and $150 for rentals up to $2000 and it goes up as the rental price goes up.

It is not necessary although some owners and/or renters request or require it. Some who owners refuse to use escrow because they don't get their money until sometime after the renter checks out.

jamesp610 wrote:

Is this necessary in renting a timeshare?

No, it is not necessary. In fact, because of the $100 fee, many owners refuse to use this service. Many demand to be paid via Pay Pal.

There are some other factors that turn RedWeek's escrow service away from owners:

1) The owner does not get paid until at least 10 days after the renter has checked out.

2) The renter has no fewer than 60 days to change his mind and back out of the deal. So if he does change his mind, the owner is left trying to find another renter (probably at a last-minute bargain rate).

If you are the owner, one recommendation is to tell the renter to pay the money upfront via Pay Pal and, if he anticipates having a change of mind, to purchase cancellation insurance.