Deposit by Venmo or Zelle before unit can be booked

Is it a common (or safe) practice for owners to request a 1/2 deposit from renter, by Venmo or Zelle, before they can notify the property to book their unit? "This rental is managed independently by the owner. RedWeek is not involved in payment collection, arbitration, cancellations, or refunds." Could this be a scam?

pennyb156 wrote:

Is it a common (or safe) practice for owners to request a 1/2 deposit from renter, by Venmo or Zelle, before they can notify the property to book their unit? "This rental is managed independently by the owner. RedWeek is not involved in payment collection, arbitration, cancellations, or refunds." Could this be a scam?

Generally, an owner will not notify their resort of a tenant being authorized to occupy their owned week(s) until such time as the rental fee is actually paid in full.

What exactly does your rental agreement say regarding deposits / cancellations / refunds? If you don't have a mutually signed rental agreement at all, reconsider sending money to anyone via Venmo or Zelle, since you have little (or no) recourse for recovery of any funds sent by those methods. An owner asking for payment by these avenues doesn't make them a "scammer", but sending non-refundable money to someone without having a detailed, executed rental agreement in place is still not particularly wise.