First time renter

Good morning! I'm a first time renter, and am in the final steps to renting a timeshare directly from the owner.

He has furnished me a short term rental agreement to sign (he has already signed it), and has asked that I sign and deliver it back to him along with a check for the full amount of the rental.

Everything seems legit, but as this is our first time we are still nervous.

I don't have any evidence that he legitimately owns the timeshare, and the address he asked us to send the payment to is a PO Box.

To anyone here that has rented before, is the standard process to pay in full first, and then wait to receive a confirmation email? Is there anything I can ask for as evidence of ownership that would be considered the normal course of business? Or would it be normal to ask the owner to have a short phone conversation?

Any suggestions or insight would be much appreciated!

I should add that I did try calling the resort (The Wilderness Club at Big Cedar) to ask about ownership. However, without a confirmation number they were unwilling to give out any information about their timeshare owners.

It is not at all unreasonable (it's wise and prudent, in fact) for you to ask for some proof of ownership before sending advance payment in full. If you found the rental on RedWeek, the owner could have had that detail covered ahead of time by paying an extra $15 to be "RedWeek verified".

Any and every timeshare owner must pay annual maintenance fee bills. If the resort won't help you with owner confirmation, I suggest directly asking the owner to provide you with either a photocopy of their deed or their most recently paid maintenance fee bill. Even if they choose to redact the dollar amount paid for maintenance fees (a detail which is really not any of your business), you would still have a document, presumably on resort or resort management company letterhead, confirming that the name and address on that maintenance fee bill document is a match to the owner name and address reflected within your rental agreement. Simple enough. A copy of (both sides of) the cancelled check with which the owner paid that last maintenance fee bill might be o.k., but not everyone has their name and full address pre-printed on their checks, so I would definitely ask for a photocopy of either a deed or a paid maintenance fee bill instead as a first choice. Any legitimate owner would have easy access to such documents.

You could also contact the resort again, asking differently this time. As you were told, it is not appropriate (nor lawful) for any resort to release owner information, but it is entirely acceptable for them to simply verify information that you already possess (i.e., the owner name and address). Changing your approach / question could result in the resort being more helpful than they were in your previous attempt.

A P.O. Box should not be a "show stopper" in and of itself; some people simply choose to get their mail that way. Also, it is a common practice for owners to require full rental payment in advance. As a relevant aside, there should also be a very clear and specific cancellation / refund policy stated within the rental agreement, particularly in these COVID-uncertain times. You want to make very sure that you will be guaranteed a 100% refund from the owner if, for example, the resort became closed down by COVID (or for any other reason) during the week you seek to rent. Travel problems or other renter personal issues are not an owner's problem or responsibility, but guaranteed available occupancy most certainly is. Make sure that protection is very clearly stated in writing and in no uncertain terms in your rental agreement.

I hope this input helps you. Good luck.

Cale: You can also send an email to support@redweek.com and, although we do not vouch for or recommend any person using our website, we can let you know how long this person has been a RedWeek member and if there are any complaints on his account.

keep it simple you can call the resort to check reservation that should be in the owners name for your week your renting. the reservation number will be the same, they will add your name to the reservation normally after you pay half. You can then confirm the reservation is in your name, and it is exactly what you wanted. Pay the balance. I'm a points owner so I'm not going to have anything showing ownership to said resort. Thats personal info I wouldn't give you. I will give you my reservation to call on. We just want to get our places rented Redweek here is pretty safe

Dave