Room liability associated with renting points

[Kaymackey]

Does anyone have a sample contract they can post / send? This is my first time renting out points.

 

[EYL]

Does anyone have a sample contract they can post / send? This is my first time renting out points.

Try this thread: https://www.disboards.com/threads/effective-dvc-point-rental-agreements.895654/. It helped me a lot when I needed to rent out points.

 

[thegash35]

I've rented points to friends and I have an agreement I make them sign that says they are responsible for fees incurred from any damages to the room. Yes, I make friends sign an agreement.

 

[EYL]

I've rented points to friends and I have an agreement I make them sign that says they are responsible for fees incurred from any damages to the room. Yes, I make friends sign an agreement.

Nothing wrong with that, in my opinion. Actually, it has been mentioned that DVC requires you to have a rental agreement. Not sure if this is true or not since I haven't read the POS, but could very well be.

 

[Sandisw]

Nothing wrong with that, in my opinion. Actually, it has been mentioned that DVC requires you to have a rental agreement. Not sure if this is true or not since I haven't read the POS, but could very well be.

That is true.

 

[crisi]

I've rented points to friends and I have an agreement I make them sign that says they are responsible for fees incurred from any damages to the room. Yes, I make friends sign an agreement.

The problem is collections. If its friends, you may ruin the friendship (I don't think I'd want to be friends with anyone who would do damage to a room such that we'd ever be in that position). If its a stranger, collecting over state lines is a problem. Someone suggested a hold on their credit card....but private individuals don't have that capability, and you risk criminal fraud and identity theft charges over a civil matter.

 

[Lorana]

DVC Members may make as many reservations as they desire. However, if, in any 12-month period, a DVC Member desires to make more than 20 reservations, the DVC Member shall be required to establish, to the satisfaction of the Board, that all of the reservations made by the DVC Member in such 12-month period are for the use of accommodations by the DVC Member, the DVC Member’s family and/or the DVC Member’s friends (collectively, “Personal Use”), and not for commercial purposes.

Has anyone actually been asked to provide proof? What does Disney look for?

I just looked at my record of past and upcoming reservations, partly because we booked several few-day trips for family (and one for myself) and a couple for friends over the past few months, plus two trips for us (one at Thanksgiving, one before Christmas) and a couple more for friends and family remaining this year, but next year we have two BIG trips planned, where we are taking all of my immediate family for one and a bunch of our friends and my husband's immediate family for the other, and between the two trips and all the rooms we are booking on our points for all the people going, we are going to have over 20 reservations in a 12-month period. (And now I'm kinda flabbergasted at how many rooms we are booking between all these trips!)

 

[CarolMN]

Has anyone actually been asked to provide proof?

Not lately, AFAIK.

There was a time several years ago, when some reported getting letters from DVC suggesting their reservation patterns appeared to be "commercial" in nature. I do not recall anyone posting the exact wording. About this same time, some owners who had a lot of points/contracts sold all or nearly all of them. (Could have been a coincidence, I suppose). . We've not really heard much about this subject since then, though.

 

[CarolynFH]

Has anyone actually been asked to provide proof? What does Disney look for?

I just looked at my record of past and upcoming reservations, partly because we booked several few-day trips for family (and one for myself) and a couple for friends over the past few months, plus two trips for us (one at Thanksgiving, one before Christmas) and a couple more for friends and family remaining this year, but next year we have two BIG trips planned, where we are taking all of my immediate family for one and a bunch of our friends and my husband's immediate family for the other, and between the two trips and all the rooms we are booking on our points for all the people going, we are going to have over 20 reservations in a 12-month period. (And now I'm kinda flabbergasted at how many rooms we are booking between all these trips!)

I think the fact that you will be occupying rooms concurrently with other people you’re reserving for makes a difference. If you had 20+ reservations, all of which were for different people and none of which were for you, Disney might find that suspicious and question you.

 

[Lorana]

I think the fact that you will be occupying rooms concurrently with other people you’re reserving for makes a difference. If you had 20+ reservations, all of which were for different people and none of which were for you, Disney might find that suspicious and question you.

Good point! Some of them were not there for, but the biggest cluster around the big trips - 12 total reservations - we are.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Good point! Some of them were not there for, but the biggest cluster around the big trips - 12 total reservations - we are.

I also strongly suspect that what Disney really wanted to crack down on was people making very large numbers of speculative rentals over peak periods, then selling these reservations. The complete lack of posts saying “hey, Disney investigated me because I made 21 reservations” suggests that Disney will not automatically pounce on anyone who creeps over the 20 reservation threshold. But the rule does mean that when Disney does see true commercial abuse of the system taking place, it has the abuser dead to rights.

 

[What-r-ya Goofy?]

AFAIK "room damage" is not limited to physical damage to the room. A renter smoking in the room can result in charges being assessed for deep cleaning and fumigating the room. Last I heard deep cleaning can cost several hundred dollars or more depending upon what they were smoking .

 

[Bearval]

The problem is collections. If its friends, you may ruin the friendship (I don't think I'd want to be friends with anyone who would do damage to a room such that we'd ever be in that position). If its a stranger, collecting over state lines is a problem. Someone suggested a hold on their credit card....but private individuals don't have that capability, and you risk criminal fraud and identity theft charges over a civil matter.

Collection for damages will be a huge problem and it will most likely be up to you to collect even if you use one of the popular intermediaries. I called one and asked about what happens if a renter damages the property and basically got a run around about how that never happens and I never received a straight answer on who has to go after the renter if causes damages and refuses to pay.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Collection for damages will be a huge problem and it will most likely be up to you to collect even if you use one of the popular intermediaries. I called one and asked about what happens if a renter damages the property and basically got a run around about how that never happens and I never received a straight answer on who has to go after the renter if causes damages and refuses to pay.

“That never happens” seems to be true, based on me Googling to try to find any DVC points owner who has lost money because a points renter damaged the room, and failing. Lots of results where people are posting about what if this happens, but zero first-person accounts of it actually happening. So I think all this worrying is unnecessary. But if anyone has a link to prove me wrong, please post it and I will stand corrected.

 

[Bjaiken77]

I’d have to imagine their is language and a plan in place for most of the big rental businesses, right? I’ve never done it, so no experience.

 

[Bearval]

“That never happens” seems to be true, based on me Googling to try to find any DVC points owner who has lost money because a points renter damaged the room, and failing. Lots of results where people are posting about what if this happens, but zero first-person accounts of it actually happening. So I think all this worrying is unnecessary. But if anyone has a link to prove me wrong, please post it and I will stand corrected.

My concern is that there is a 1st time for everything and that it would happen to me. What I didn't care for was not getting a straight answer like " we will cover the charges and go after the renter if they refuse to pay" makes me believe they will only try and get the money but if they don't then it is up to you to seek legal action.

 

[KaystotheKingdom]

For those of you that coordinate these rentals and transfers without a 3rd party intermediary, how and when do you collect payment? As an owner I’d want the funds prior to a transfer (I guess with a rental I’d have the safety net of being able to cancel). If I was a renter, I’d be nervous to pay without having the reservation booked

 

[Meglen]

For those of you that coordinate these rentals and transfers without a 3rd party intermediary, how and when do you collect payment? As an owner I’d want the funds prior to a transfer (I guess with a rental I’d have the safety net of being able to cancel). If I was a renter, I’d be nervous to pay without having the reservation booked

My recent rental was with someone on the boards and it went smooth. He emailed me a few times making sure everything was correct we worked out the price and how we were paying (PayPal) I believe he booked it first than I payed him than he sent me the confirmation information almost immediately. Due to covid it had to get moved (thankfully he had time on the points) and I payed the difference due to needing a few more points.

 

[Sandisw]

For those of you that coordinate these rentals and transfers without a 3rd party intermediary, how and when do you collect payment? As an owner I’d want the funds prior to a transfer (I guess with a rental I’d have the safety net of being able to cancel). If I was a renter, I’d be nervous to pay without having the reservation booked

I require 100% for a transfer before I will do it. Not all will be comfortable but so far, I have found owners who were willing,

For rentals, I require full payment within 24 hours of them getting the confirmation number.

Again, not all renters will want to do it this way and all owners decide what they are comfortable with.

 

[enza]

I mean in a perfect world this sounds nice, but there are a lot of first time renters that would have no proof of rental history. Remember that renters are taking a similar risk in a private rental scenario that you aren’t going to take their money and disappear or cancel their reservation etc. This type of transaction has risks on both sides and so having a written contract is the best thing you can do to protect yourself.

I agree, I have been renting points for years. I have gotten lucky I found a good owner and he got someone who didn’t need their hand held for the process. He had a written contact and I felt it protected us both. Good luck if you decide to rent and share the magic