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Re: New Member Questions (by Alisa S.):

Hi,

My name is Alisa and I am the customer service director for RedWeek, and also work closely with First American Title to mediate rental escrow disputes.

I would like to take this opportunity to clarify a statement made by lancec13 about a renter backing out. The way the rental escrow program works is: the renter submits fifty percent (50%) of the total rental amount together with renter’s portion of the escrow fee (if applicable) to First American along with an executed copy of the First American rental agreement. If the rental period begins in less than 60 days of the rental agreement submission, then 100% of the total rental amount is due at time of submission.

Should the renter back out after submitting the rental agreement and any portion of rental amount, then it is very unlikely that the money held in escrow will be returned to the renter. In most cases, the money held in escrow is disbursed to the owner as 'damage' compensation. In some cases, if enough time remains to re-rent the week, the owner is given the opportunity to find a new renter. If successful, the money held in escrow (less the non-refundable escrow fee) is returned to the original renter and a new escrow contract is opened with the new renter.