Fraud
philipr35 wrote:========== That's why Redweek encourages the use of the Escrow service. I believe the money isn't released to the owner until after the rental period. Fellow posters...is this correct? Also I would call the resort directly to insure that the person actually owns the unit.What kind of assurances does one have that the person renting is actually an owner? It seems a little spooky to pay seven months in advance and not even know for sure that the person does in fact own the timeshare.
Mike N.
Last edited by mike1536 on Sep 04, 2007 05:00 PM
philipr35 wrote:=======================================What kind of assurances does one have that the person renting is actually an owner? It seems a little spooky to pay seven months in advance and not even know for sure that the person does in fact own the timeshare.
A good question. My suggestion would be (....before parting with any money) to ask the person for his/her name and address and then call the resort directly to confirm that the name of the person on record there as owner(s) of a particular unit / week is, in fact, the very same name as the person to whom you might later be sending money. I certainly don't know about ALL resorts EVERYWHERE, but I do know that those at which I own are willing to provide such confirmation. As a privacy matter, however, most resorts (quite reasonably) might require you to provide the name first, and then confirm or refute the information you have. Most will NOT respond to a mere inquiry "who owns week X, unit 123?".
And as Mike has observed, use of an escrow service is an added measure of protection for BOTH parties. Good luck.
KC
philipr35 wrote:What kind of assurances does one have that the person renting is actually an owner? It seems a little spooky to pay seven months in advance and not even know for sure that the person does in fact own the timeshare.
You might also ask the person renting to fax or email some type of verfication that they own the week (re: maintenance fee paid receipt or a paragraph of their contract stating their name as owner).
R P.