Red Week Verified????

How does my rental listing become "Red Week Verified?"

Patricia,

If your posting is RedWeek verified, it lets potential renters or buyers know the information in the posting has been reviewed, confirmed and validated by RedWeek staff and the posting is accurate.

When you add your rental or resale posting, there will be an option to select to have your posting verified. This option runs an additional $14.99 for a rental posting or $19.99 for a resale listing.

If you have further questions, please Contact Us .

Phyllis

Is it safe to rent from someone that is not verified? Could it be a scam?

Frankly, it baffles me that some people won't pony up the additional $14.99 to become "RedWeek Verified", to easily provide peace of mind to any and all skittish prospective renters. I get "RedWeek verified" every time I rent out a week. To me, it's worth $15 to not have to "prove" my legitimacy to nervous potential renters --- over and over again; I don't have the time (or the patience) for that repetitive exercise.

That being said, RedWeek is definitely not a "scammer friendly" site. Anyone placing an ad on RedWeek (with or without getting "RedWeek verified") has paid for a RedWeek membership and then also paid for each individual listing. In doing so, a "paper trail" and some means of identification (and tracing, if necessary) has been provided. The "frugality" of being unwilling to pay $15 extra to get "RedWeek verified" and avoid a whole lot of unnecessary questions and wasted time is, in my personal opinion, just "penny wise and pound foolish" --- some might just say "cheap". If someone can afford to own a timeshare, they can afford $15 to prove the legitimacy of their ownership to prospective tenants.

Could a scammer operate on RedWeek? It's remotely possible, but highly unlikely in my opinion. Scammers don't ever want to pay a penny out of their pocket and they certainly don't want to be easily (if ever) identified or traced. Sites like Craigslist provide a much easier and "safer" venue for scammers of ill intent to operate anonymously "in the shadows".

If you are considering renting from someone who has chosen to save $15 and not get "RedWeek verified", I suggest that you make them prove their ownership to you by providing a copy of a reservation, or a copy of a maintenance fee bill, redacted deed, or something to document the ownership of whatever they are attempting to rent out. Good luck.