Questions about renting OUT your points

[perchy]

I have rented points to use before, but I’ve never rented out. This year, I need to give it a try to help cover other non-Disney trip plans.

I know to use a contract.

I know I have to call Member Services to add all the details.

What else do I need to be aware of?

Send confirmation number first…then expect payment….

I know people looking to rent points face risks for scams. Wondering what I might need to do to protect myself as the owner. Or, help a renter feel most secure about renting from me.

I’d like to max my return vs using the page sponsor. Or is it really worth the dollars per point to let them handle?

 

[eticketplease]

You will need all of the renters information so that you can book it online without calling member services.

You can then give the renter the reservation confirmation number so that they can add it to their MDE and see it’s real with their name on it

Then you should expect payment whether that’s 100% or some sort of payment arrangement you set up with them.

If they don’t pay you, you simply cancel the reservation and if they do, make sure you don’t touch it in your dashboard.

I rented points through David as the board sponsor was not paying much even for premium resorts. I did take less than doing it myself, but I didn’t have to go back-and-forth with many potential renters looking up availability for a resort that I didn’t own at 11 months out even though the post clearly says I couldn’t do that until seven months. To me that The loss and a few extra bucks was Worth more than the aggravation of that. It was also very fast. I submitted my points on one day and three days later I had 70% of the rental proceeds in my PayPal account.

 

[BaybeeYoda]

It’s not that much more work to rent out yourself.

The biggest risk is if your renter destroys the room. That generally doesn’t happen.

This forum had a rent/trafe board. FB also has these sites but I find them to be unappealing. Owners charge much more of fb sites than the forum.

 

[muppets3d]

It’s not that much more work to rent out yourself.

The biggest risk is if your renter destroys the room. That generally doesn’t happen.

This forum had a rent/trafe board. FB also has these sites but I find them to be unappealing. Owners charge much more of fb sites than the forum.

How is the renter destroying the room a risk to the owner?

 

[muppets3d]

I would just be worried about a scammy renter filing a PayPal dispute or something. Of course, if they were dumb enough to do that before the vacation you could just cancel the reservation and move on. The danger comes if they file a dispute after the vacation and PayPal sides with them.

 

[Hubalorian]

How is the renter destroying the room a risk to the owner?

Technically, even with a contract, Disney could decide to hold us, the owner responsible. We would then have to go after the renter for whatever the cost of the damages Disney decided to levee against the owner.

 

[Sandisw]

Technically, even with a contract, Disney could decide to hold us, the owner responsible. We would then have to go after the renter for whatever the cost of the damages Disney decided to levee against the owner.

To add to this, when there were reports of an issue with a renter, whether it was this or an unpaid bill, they simply froze the DVC account until the owner was able to get the guest to take care of it.

Some owners ended up paying just to unlock the account. It’s been a very long time since this happened and with the way they do the CC hold now, at least the unpaid charge aspect is covered.

 

[muppets3d]

Technically, even with a contract, Disney could decide to hold us, the owner responsible. We would then have to go after the renter for whatever the cost of the damages Disney decided to levee against the owner.

Low chance of that happening I’d reckon but still sobering to consider.

 

[Hubalorian]

Low chance of that happening I’d reckon but still sobering to consider.

I would put it in the extremely low occurrence category, but something to be mindful of and make sure it’s incorporated that the renter is responsible for in the contract.

 

[crisi]

The biggest thing I've noticed happening over the years is to the people who allow their renters to pay half up front, half 30 days out. The half up front comes in, the reservation is confirmed, MDE reservations are made - and then the 30 days out comes up and the second half of the payment hasn't arrived. You are now within the 30 day cancellation window and the points will go into holding. You contact the renter, who promises payment "tomorrow" or "next week" and/or provides some sob story about why the money isn't available at this moment. Well, your points are going to go into holding, and they say they will pay, and really, they had to fly across country for Grandma's funeral last month and it was expensive......

Make the reservation early in your use year so if you cancel you can rerent the points. And ask for the final payment sixty days out, with a firm cancellation date of 35 days out.

Also, decide up front about how much you want to do. If you want a "all reservations are final" policy or if you are a "I will work with you to see if I can do something about shifting your dates/re-renting the points to refund your money" or something in between. When you make these decisions, think about where the reservation falls in your use year and how much bother you want to go through. Most people are pretty easy and an "all reservations are final" policy will work for them because that's how it works. Some people will be significantly more needy - and you won't know what sort of renter you have when you rent, so evaluate the risk up front.

 

[crisi]

I would put it in the extremely low occurrence category, but something to be mindful of and make sure it’s incorporated that the renter is responsible for in the contract.

Keep in mind that a contract is only as good as what you are willing to go to court to enforce (as I now tell my bosses pretty much weekly. "But its in the contract" - "yep, and they aren't doing it, which means you can cancel the contract or start legal proceedings to execute on the damage clause, because all our contracts allow cancellation for convenance, you could have done the first anyway. I assume you've already told them they need to do it and its in the contract."). With DVC contracts, which cross state lines in terms of where the renter and owner are, actually getting any money out of your renter for damages could be difficult and costly.

Have a contract. Realistic things to make sure are in the contract are items like you being able to cancel for non-payment, because you don't want to get sued it they don't pay and arrive to no room. The contract should spell out all the terms - including that the renter is responsible for any fees incurred for damages. I suspect most people have a clause in the contract that the renter will not ask for a room upgrade - as the front desk has been known to "upgrade" and take the points out of the account. Don't expect the contract to function as a means of recouping expenses - its more of a "this is how this will work" document.

Disney charging for damages to the room is something I have never heard of happening, although it is in OUR contract that they can. And OUR contract with Disney offers Disney an easy enforcement method, they freeze our account so we can't use our points until we pay up. Its low risk.

 

[eticketplease]

Am I remembering correctly that there used to be a box you would check for the person is not a DVC member when making a reservation? That no longer seems to be there now, again if it was there as sometimes my memory is not the greatest lol

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would suggest not taking PayPal. PayPal has always been problematic for timeshare transactions per their TOS.

 

[BaybeeYoda]

How is the renter destroying the room a risk to the owner thread on this:

There is an older thread on this topic. I didn’t know about the PayPal concern.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/room-liability-associated-with-renting-points.3825915/

 

[drusba]

How is the renter destroying the room a risk to the owner?

Many, including apparently many who rent, appear to be unaware of all the rules stated in the POS relating to rentals, which rules include: (a) the member is personally responsible for damage to the rooms resulting from the acts or omissions of any renters or other guests of the member; (b) all rental agreements are required to be in writing and must contain terms under which the renter agrees to comply with all the rules applicable to the occupancy and use of any room; (c) the member is required to inform MS that a reservation is a rental at the time the reservation is made; (d) neither banked nor borrowed points can be used for any rental; (e) if you decide, instead of doing a room rental, that you will just sell some points to another member, be aware that the rules expressly prohibit a member from transferring points for money.

 

[Chuck S]

I have only rented points, it was 100 points spread over 6 one or two day reservations. When someone was interested, i'd try to catch them online or text them, to be sure I had all their info, then I'd make the reservation in their name, and send them to confirmation number, giving them enough time to lug the reservation into their MDE.

I then expected 50& payment, abd then the remaining balance 45 days before check-in date OR 45 days before the end of my banking window, which ever came first, just in case I needed to cancel their reservation for non-payment. I sent them a payment reminder a couple of days prior to that 45 day deadline through paypal and text. Everything went off without a hitch.

 

[SeanW]

So, from my understanding, you can now rent out borrowed points; is that correct?

Also, would someone help walk me through this process? I would make the reservation, and would I add the people onto the reservation at that time or would I add them to the reservation later on? I was reading that both myself and the person I am renting points to needs to be on a phone call with MS. Is that correct?

 

[Cyberc1978]

So, from my understanding, you can now rent out borrowed points; is that correct?

Also, would someone help walk me through this process? I would make the reservation, and would I add the people onto the reservation at that time or would I add them to the reservation later on? I was reading that both myself and the person I am renting points to needs to be on a phone call with MS. Is that correct?

From your description it sounds like you mean you can now transfer borrowed points.

Transfers are final that’s also why most if not all members require payment upfront.

The process is that you call member services and inform them that you wish to do a transfer. Then you add the receiver of the points to the call. MS will verify that the receiver is a member and eligible for a transfer. Once thats done they will ask you how many points you wish to transfer and which points to transfer. Then MS work their magic and the receiver gets the points.

 

[Chuck S]

So, from my understanding, you can now rent out borrowed points; is that correct?

Also, would someone help walk me through this process? I would make the reservation, and would I add the people onto the reservation at that time or would I add them to the reservation later on? I was reading that both myself and the person I am renting points to needs to be on a phone call with MS. Is that correct?

It sounds like you're talking about a point transfer, which now allows you to use banked and borrowed points. You could always rent borrowed points by just making the reservation in the renters name.

For a point transfer, the "renter" must also be a DVC Member, and yes, you both need to be on the phone in a group call to Member Services, but transfers are not supposed to be something you get money for (though of course MS generally looks the other way).
The "renter is then in charge of those points, and if they don;t pay you the full amount, you have no recourse, as MS will not become involved, and you can not cancel the reservation and the points are in their account to do with as they please.

On the other hand I personally would rather rent than transfer. But, I would try not to borrow points unless absolutely necessary, because if the renter does default, while you recover the points by cancelling the reservation, you can not bank them back to their original use year.
When I rented here were my rules, your rules may vary:

1) The renter contacted me through the Rental Board or Direct Message, and then direct messaged me their personal info for all travelers.
2) If the dates and rooms were available, I booked them under the renters name.
3) I contacted the renter via text message with the reservation confirmation number, and let them verify everything through their MDE App.
4) I had them send me 50% of the total amount immediately upon their verification via PayPal.
5) I gave them until 45 day before travel, or 45 days before my backing window, whichever came first, to pay me the balance. That way I could cancel the reservation and bank the points, if needed. I did send a payment request to them via PayPal a few days prior to the due date, as well as a text message.

Everyone paid, so I did not need to cancel any of the reservations, and everything worked out.

 

[SeanW]

From your description it sounds like you mean you can now transfer borrowed points.

Transfers are final that’s also why most if not all members require payment upfront.

The process is that you call member services and inform them that you wish to do a transfer. Then you add the receiver of the points to the call. MS will verify that the receiver is a member and eligible for a transfer. Once thats done they will ask you how many points you wish to transfer and which points to transfer. Then MS work their magic and the receiver gets the points.

It sounds like you're talking about a point transfer, which now allows you to use banked and borrowed points. You could always rent borrowed points by just making the reservation in the renters name.

For a point transfer, the "renter" must also be a DVC Member, and yes, you both need to be on the phone in a group call to Member Services, but transfers are not supposed to be something you get money for (though of course MS generally looks the other way).
The "renter is then in charge of those points, and if they don;t pay you the full amount, you have no recourse, as MS will not become involved, and you can not cancel the reservation and the points are in their account to do with as they please.

On the other hand I personally would rather rent than transfer. But, I would try not to borrow points unless absolutely necessary, because if the renter does default, while you recover the points by cancelling the reservation, you can not bank them back to their original use year.
When I rented here were my rules, your rules may vary:

1) The renter contacted me through the Rental Board or Direct Message, and then direct messaged me their personal info for all travelers.
2) If the dates and rooms were available, I booked them under the renters name.
3) I contacted the renter via text message with the reservation confirmation number, and let them verify everything through their MDE App.
4) I had them send me 50% of the total amount immediately upon their verification via PayPal.
5) I gave them until 45 day before travel, or 45 days before my backing window, whichever came first, to pay me the balance. That way I could cancel the reservation and bank the points, if needed. I did send a payment request to them via PayPal a few days prior to the due date, as well as a text message.

Everyone paid, so I did not need to cancel any of the reservations, and everything worked out.

Thanks guys, I am talking about renting them out to non-DVC members and looking back at the thread I was reading, it is titled transfers so that is probably where I got calling MS from.

For renting out the points, would I need to know the whole party's information at the time of booking? If memory serves me right, I would be the only one who would be able to change the party.