How can I rent a timeshare?

I don't know how it works with the points system, but with the weeks system in RCI the only way you are allowed to rent is if you don't deposit your week. Once it is deposited, you aren't allowed to rent it. If you don't deposit it, RCI has a rental department and will try to rent your week for you. They say the sooner you put it into their system for rental the higher up on the list you are for getting it rented out. Joan

jennie wrote:

jayjay wrote:

The reason the exchange companies implemented the 'no rental of exchanges' is actually to protect their members. In the old days people would snap up the best/most popular exchanges and then turn around and rent them out making a huge profit. The exchange companies had to put a stop to this. It's the bad apples in the barrel that caused these rules to be implemented.

Many experienced timeshare owners have a different slant on this. They believe that RCI saw a way to make more profit for their company by eliminating the competition i.e. the timeshare owner, and then renting valuable space-banked weeks themselves to the general (non timeshare owning) public. Through the years I rented many prime weeks from RCI's distribution sources at a far lower price than I would have paid if I had owned the week and had paid the annual maintenance fees.

In the beginning RCI denied engaging in this activity. When people proved they were doing it, they then claimed that they were only renting "excess inventory" i.e. low demand weeks that would go unrequested by their exchange members. When this was proven false, they had by then established the RCI Points system. They came up with the excuse that sometimes they had to rent out a deposited week to raise money to secure airline tickets, cruises, or other things requested by their Points members (instead of nights or weeks at a timeshare property).

It is all of this rental activity that has caused a huge class action lawsuit to be filed against RCI's parent company Cendant. Since the lawsuit was filed, I no longer see the hundreds of prime weeks being offered for rent to the general public. I miss the bargains I used to get but will be very happy if RCI is permanently stopped from engaging in this practise. Then maybe we will resume getting the fair exchanges so many of us used to enjoy in the years before RCI was acquired by Cendant.

Jennie,

What are these other distributions sources of that you referred to?

"Through the years I rented many prime weeks from RCI's distribution sources at a far lower price than I would have paid if I had owned the week and had paid the annual maintenance fees.

joanp60 wrote:

Jennie,

What are these other distributions sources of that you referred to?

"Through the years I rented many prime weeks from RCI's distribution sources at a far lower price than I would have paid if I had owned the week and had paid the annual maintenance fees.

Primarily SkyAuction.com and Snaptravel.com

However, the great deals have dwindled over the past year or two. However, for several years I rented or "won" some of the best timeshares in southeast Florida during the prime season of mid-January to early March for under $500. per week, including many two bedroom units. I've also rented summer weeks on Cape Cod and in Atlantic City, Las Vegas and even Hawaii.

I believe the class action lawsuit filed against RCI put an end to this unfair practise.

jennie wrote:

joanp60 wrote:

Jennie,

What are these other distributions sources of that you referred to?

"Through the years I rented many prime weeks from RCI's distribution sources at a far lower price than I would have paid if I had owned the week and had paid the annual maintenance fees.

Primarily SkyAuction.com and Snaptravel.com

However, the great deals have dwindled over the past year or two. However, for several years I rented or "won" some of the best timeshares in southeast Florida during the prime season of mid-January to early March for under $500. per week, including many two bedroom units. I've also rented summer weeks on Cape Cod and in Atlantic City, Las Vegas and even Hawaii.

I believe the class action lawsuit filed against RCI put an end to this unfair practise.

Jennie,

Why do you think SkyAuction and Snaptravel are related to RCI? There are many many companies that contact owners all the time about renting (or selling) their places for them as well as legitimate travel agencies.

Fairfield/Wyndom has its own rental agency, ExtraHolidays, which owners may use, but they don't push it since they want to emphasize owner usage. I have tried it twice to rent out a week I could not use with poor results. To put it kindly, I think they are badly understaffed. However, if you are the one who is looking for a week, it is worth checking.

Bluegreen Resorts is more direct in its rental program for owners. We can reserve a week and give it to them to rent. While a renter cannot be guaranteed, a good week in a good location has a good chance.

Neither of these companies makes an up front charge to try renting out your week, but they get 35% of any rent received. That is why many of us prefer to use RedWeek!

MD

dereks41 wrote:

jayjay wrote:

If you own the points you don't need a guest certificate from an exchange company. What you're basically doing is reserving a week with your points and renting that week out. The only time a guest certificate is needed is when an exchange company is involved and you're GIVING an exchanged week to friends or relatives.

dereks41 wrote:

The question i have is am i able to rent out any week if it is available to a renter using my points to book the week and purchasing a guest certificate for the renter?

I do own the points , but i am with an exchange company, RCI. I talked to them yesterday and they said that any of their resorts that they are affiliated with need a guest certificate to be purchased if i am not going to be going, does that make sense?

Actually, yes. I think any resort wants to know who is going to be coming even if they do not object to renting. They can't just hand the keys to total strangers who claim they have the right to use the unit you own or have reserved.

Some resort groups do not charge for a Guest Confirmation, but they still require it. Some will send the Confirmation directly to the guest at your request; others send it to you and you are required to get it to the guest (or renter). Some also ask you to give the guest a cover letter confirming your willingness to have them use the unit. (Which probably confirms that you are liable if they damage it!) Fairfield/Wyndom charges for Guest Confirmations after the first free one unless you have reached VIP ownership. Then additional Guest Confirmations are free. It all depends on the rules of the resort or resort group in which you own, regardless of whether it has a points system or what exchange company it uses.

There may be an exception to the above if you own a fixed week in a fixed unit, but even then I'm sure the resort would appreciate your contacting them to confirm that someone other than you will be coming.

MD

adahiscout wrote:

Actually, yes. I think any resort wants to know who is going to be coming even if they do not object to renting. They can't just hand the keys to total strangers who claim they have the right to use the unit you own or have reserved.

My question is, can the owner of the points not make their reservation directly with the resort? Why would RCI even be involved? And if the owner of the points is renting the reservation to someone else, could he/she not just call the front desk and tell them that the reservation is to be put in the renter's name?

I don't see RCI's involvement here unless the owner has deposited his points with RCI for an exchange, then that's a whole different ballgame?

jayjay wrote:

adahiscout wrote:

Actually, yes. I think any resort wants to know who is going to be coming even if they do not object to renting. They can't just hand the keys to total strangers who claim they have the right to use the unit you own or have reserved.

My question is, can the owner of the points not make their reservation directly with the resort? Why would RCI even be involved? And if the owner of the points is renting the reservation to someone else, could he/she not just call the front desk and tell them that the reservation is to be put in the renter's name?

I don't see RCI's involvement here unless the owner has deposited his points with RCI for an exchange, then that's a whole different ballgame?

The confusion seems to be in WHOSE POINTS ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? If you are talking about the point system of your "home resort" and you are reserving at that resort or within its system, the exchange company (whichever it may be) is NOT INVOLVED, but some sort of Guest Confirmation may still be needed if you are not using the reservation yourself. If you own points, I'm guessing that you own with a multiple resort system such as Fairfield/Wyndom, Bluegreen, etc. They usually have a central reservation system through which all reservations must be made. Each company has its own rules of the road, however. Study your own carefully.

As you say, if you are using the RCI Points (or Weeks) to make an External Exchange, it is a "whole different ball game" and you play by RCI's rules. OK?

MD

joanp60 wrote:

If you don't deposit it, RCI has a rental department and will try to rent your week for you. They say the sooner you put it into their system for rental the higher up on the list you are for getting it rented out. Joan

So you are saying that the time RCI offers for cash rental has, at least partly, been put up for rental by RCI members who want money, not an Exchange. That makes good sense for folks who want to get at least their maintenance fees covered and don't really have time to use either their own resort or another one. That answers one of the questions discussed on this site.

MD

adahiscout wrote:

joanp60 wrote:

If you don't deposit it, RCI has a rental department and will try to rent your week for you. They say the sooner you put it into their system for rental the higher up on the list you are for getting it rented out. Joan

So you are saying that the time RCI offers for cash rental has, at least partly, been put up for rental by RCI members who want money, not an Exchange. That makes good sense for folks who want to get at least their maintenance fees covered and don't really have time to use either their own resort or another one. That answers one of the questions discussed on this site.

MD

Okay, if I have someone (friend/family), who wants to vacation somewhere, and I use my points and book the exchange through RCI, I would have my friend/family pay the exchange fee and guest pass on their credit card. Then, however, couldn't they technically give me a gift--monetary or other that would be equal to the point value used? Could a gift be considered renting? Also Fairfield points can be rented, can they only be rented by other owners? Could the person possibly rent the points from me first, and I then just book the exchange? I'm just curious as to how RCI could prevent these two scenarios... JH

jenniferh259 wrote:

Okay, if I have someone (friend/family), who wants to vacation somewhere, and I use my points and book the exchange through RCI, I would have my friend/family pay the exchange fee and guest pass on their credit card. Then, however, couldn't they technically give me a gift--monetary or other that would be equal to the point value used? Could a gift be considered renting? Also Fairfield points can be rented, can they only be rented by other owners? Could the person possibly rent the points from me first, and I then just book the exchange? I'm just curious as to how RCI could prevent these two scenarios... JH

jenniferh259 wrote:

Okay, if I have someone (friend/family), who wants to vacation somewhere, and I use my points and book the exchange through RCI, I would have my friend/family pay the exchange fee and guest pass on their credit card. Then, however, couldn't they technically give me a gift--monetary or other that would be equal to the point value used? Could a gift be considered renting? Also Fairfield points can be rented, can they only be rented by other owners? Could the person possibly rent the points from me first, and I then just book the exchange? I'm just curious as to how RCI could prevent these two scenarios... JH

Thanks for replying, but I think the rental thing is with Fairfield points and RCI. It sounds like you have something different maybe? Once a FF week is exchanged, it can't be rented. I asked the question above to see if those two other ways would be a possibility, without actually renting. Anyone else know??

jenniferh259 wrote:

jenniferh259 wrote:

Okay, if I have someone (friend/family), who wants to vacation somewhere, and I use my points and book the exchange through RCI, I would have my friend/family pay the exchange fee and guest pass on their credit card. Then, however, couldn't they technically give me a gift--monetary or other that would be equal to the point value used? Could a gift be considered renting? Also Fairfield points can be rented, can they only be rented by other owners? Could the person possibly rent the points from me first, and I then just book the exchange? I'm just curious as to how RCI could prevent these two scenarios... JH

Thanks for replying, but I think the rental thing is with Fairfield points and RCI. It sounds like you have something different maybe? Once a FF week is exchanged, it can't be rented. I asked the question above to see if those two other ways would be a possibility, without actually renting. Anyone else know??

I rented some excess FF/W points recently to another FF/W owner. She can use them just as she would her own, so I see no reason why she could not use them to secure a FF/W week and then deposit it in RCI to exchange for her own use or that of a guest. However, I don't think this transaction would work between me and a non-Fairfield/Wyndham owner.

I could not have used those same points to reserve a FF/W week (instead of renting them to her), deposit it with RCI myself, and then rent the week received in an exchange to her.

As for the question of accepting a "gift" from someone you "give" an RCI exchange to--it had better not be a stranger or someone who would not normally give you big gifts. Maybe they could pick up the check for dinners out together for the rest of the year! Or if you both own timeshares but they were "running short" this year, they might make a deposit and give that excchange to you another time. That would be an even exchange of gifts. No commercial profit involved. (At least that would be my take on it.)

MD

Good ideas, thanks :)

maryi9 wrote:

cynthia281 wrote:

Make sure that your reservation is from the resort and not from RCI or Interval International. Many are renting weeks that do not belong to them, so be careful not to rent something they do not own. If it is an exchange, it is against the rules to rent it out.

I have a week at the Boardwalk at Disney that I just exchanged for on II- It is against the rules for me to rent that out??? Can't I get a guest certificate for the people I rent it to?

This is my first time trying to do this - we had to bank our week last year and have not been able to exhange for a week we can take - I got boardwalk by pure luck and would love to go but the kids are in school so I thought I would rent it - I know it is very popular.

If we have to we will go for part of the week but what a waste!

========== No, you can not rent it out but you can gift it to someone you know. You can accept reimbursement for the Gift Confirmation and the exchange fee you paid. Beyond that, you would be on very thin ice, chancing expulsion of the "guest" from the resort and you from RCI. I quote from RCI POINTS & WEEKS:

Guest Certificates may only be used by the individual(s) named on the certificate and their guests. Guest Certificates are non-transferable, and may not be used for any commercial purpose, including auction, rental or sale. MD

dereks41 wrote:

jenniferh259 wrote:

Okay, if I have someone (friend/family), who wants to vacation somewhere, and I use my points and book the exchange through RCI, I would have my friend/family pay the exchange fee and guest pass on their credit card. Then, however, couldn't they technically give me a gift--monetary or other that would be equal to the point value used? Could a gift be considered renting? Also Fairfield points can be rented, can they only be rented by other owners? Could the person possibly rent the points from me first, and I then just book the exchange? I'm just curious as to how RCI could prevent these two scenarios... JH

RCI cannot prevent anything, if you own a deeded property ( I.E. a week or two or three etc.) at a resort, that is your property for that week. You may choose to do whatever you would like with it. I own a week at The Grandview in Las Vegas through RCI. I am under the points system, not the weeks system so i recieve a certain amount of points depending on what week i own. I may choose to do whatever i like with those points whether its booking a week at the resort with my points and having someone else stay there, as long as they have a guest certificate.

If you actually have your purchase contract at Grandview and did not have your owned week automatically deposited in RCI POINTS to secure that Grandview week by exchange, then it is yours to do with as you jolly well please. Once it enters either the RCI WEEKS or the RCI POINTS exchange systems, it can only be exchanged for time to be used by you or a genuine guest. Since you say you own Grandview "through RCI", I am not sure what your current status is.

=Correction, in case you don't pick up on my later entry. RCI says RCI POINTS owners contractually are obligating their ownership to RCI. While you can choose to reserve you own "purchased" week, you are NOT allowed to rent out EITHER that or a week you get via RCI POINTS. Sorry. MD

adahiscout wrote:

Not if RCI POINTS catches you. A genuine guest if fine; an actual rental is not. RCI POINTS and RCI WEEKS have identical rules on insisting that the weeks reserved through them cannot be used for commercial purposes. (rental).

Same rule with II (Interval International). If either RCI or II catch you renting exchanged weeks for profit then your account will be terminated and your guests possibly turned away at check-in. It's happnened in the past.

When giving weeks to friends or family, the only monetary value you can ask from your guests are the exchange fee and and guest certificate fee. I'm not sure what II's policies are on this matter.

jayjay wrote:

adahiscout wrote:

Not if RCI POINTS catches you. A genuine guest if fine; an actual rental is not. RCI POINTS and RCI WEEKS have identical rules on insisting that the weeks reserved through them cannot be used for commercial purposes. (rental).

Same rule with II (Interval International). If either RCI or II catch you renting exchanged weeks for profit then your account will be terminated and your guests possibly turned away at check-in. It's happnened in the past.

When giving weeks to friends or family, the only monetary value you can ask from your guests are the exchange fee and and guest certificate fee. I'm not sure what II's policies are on this matter.

There is a listing for PAHIO @ Bali Hai here on Redweek that is listed for rent and has a notation that the RCI Guest Certificate is included in the rent. That is a blantant rental, but it seems Redweek doesn't want to be a watchdog for RCI. I think when you post a listing for rent, you should have to check a box that states, "I am the owner of this week, which the renter may verify with the resort."

cynthia281 wrote:

There is a listing for PAHIO @ Bali Hai here on Redweek that is listed for rent and has a notation that the RCI Guest Certificate is included in the rent. That is a blantant rental, but it seems Redweek doesn't want to be a watchdog for RCI. I think when you post a listing for rent, you should have to check a box that states, "I am the owner of this week, which the renter may verify with the resort."

DaveM from Tug explained Redweek's stance on rentals of Redweek exchanges very well below:

Further, how is Redweek responsible here? They act only as a communication service between owner and renter. They clearly state that they take no responsibility for problems between owner and renter (bold emphasis added):

Quote: "We allow our members to communicate directly with each other and complete the transaction on their own. RedWeek.com does not represent, or act, for either the buyer or the seller, nor do we act as an intermediary between the prospective parties to a transaction. As a result, we have no control over the quality, safety, or legality of the properties posted, the truth or accuracy of the postings, the ability of sellers to sell the interval or unit, or the ability of buyers to complete the purchase.

RedWeek.com is not legally responsible for any problems that arise between the two parties. We encourage you to take precautions to ensure your transactions are safe, and we provide resources in our Help section to offer this assistance. We are not real estate brokers, so if you are selling or purchasing a timeshare interest, we advise you to use a licensed real estate broker. If you rent a unit, it would be wise to verify the owner has the right to assign you the right to use the unit."

That language is similar to what you'll find on other rental sites, unless the site acts as a broker (e.g., taking a rental commission).