VRBO Rental Contract?
Sep 26, 2011, 9:55 pm
#16
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Hi jplee3,
My name is Travis and I’m an employee at HomeAway. I’m glad to see you’re booking your next vacation at a VRBO.com property and already communicating with the owner! I just wanted to let you know that at VRBO.com we strongly recommend getting a written agreement from the owner before making any payments. The rental agreement should include arrival/departure dates, payment schedules, and pet policies, as well as cancellation/refund terms and conditions. While you can choose any method of payment you and the owner prefer, you should never pay by a wire transfer such as Western Union.
I hope this information is useful.
Happy renting!
Travis
HomeAway Customer Support
VRBO.com – A HomeAway website
My name is Travis and I’m an employee at HomeAway. I’m glad to see you’re booking your next vacation at a VRBO.com property and already communicating with the owner! I just wanted to let you know that at VRBO.com we strongly recommend getting a written agreement from the owner before making any payments. The rental agreement should include arrival/departure dates, payment schedules, and pet policies, as well as cancellation/refund terms and conditions. While you can choose any method of payment you and the owner prefer, you should never pay by a wire transfer such as Western Union.
I hope this information is useful.
Happy renting!
Travis
HomeAway Customer Support
VRBO.com – A HomeAway website
From your experience, is the use of cc common in your business?
Sep 27, 2011, 11:10 am
#17
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On my VBRO rentals I always ask for a copy of the rental contract/lease prior to making any financial commitment.
Many will take a deposit via paypal and balance by cash or equivalent upon arrival, inspection of the unit and signatures on the agreement.
For the legal minds: how do we know that the person we are paying money to is the legitimate owner or legal agent of the owner?
In Toronto someone managed to get his hands on a set of keys to an empty apartment near the university. They posted for rent ads in Craiglist and Kijiji just before school started in end of Aug and collected first and last month's rent from six different individuals in cash before disappearing. His bait was no need for guarantor and eight/nine month lease for only the school year.
Many will take a deposit via paypal and balance by cash or equivalent upon arrival, inspection of the unit and signatures on the agreement.
For the legal minds: how do we know that the person we are paying money to is the legitimate owner or legal agent of the owner?
In Toronto someone managed to get his hands on a set of keys to an empty apartment near the university. They posted for rent ads in Craiglist and Kijiji just before school started in end of Aug and collected first and last month's rent from six different individuals in cash before disappearing. His bait was no need for guarantor and eight/nine month lease for only the school year.
Sep 27, 2011, 2:53 pm
#18
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I've never had a contract, and never had any trouble. But, just now I'm dealing with one where the owner want's a scanned copy of my Driver's License. This is a first for me. Is this a common request?
Sep 27, 2011, 3:22 pm
#19
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 360
Hey all,
I read (from VRBO's site) that a rental agreement is strongly recommended especially if you're paying by check, etc.
I ended up calling and talking with the VRBO owner of the unit we are interested in renting and had a nice conversation. She was definitely willing to work something in but wasn't quite sure what to put in it, so she asked if I could help with listing out my concerns of what might go into the contract.
Otherwise, the owner sounded trustworthy and I've verified that she and her husband are in fact the owners. Should I just forgo having a rental contract and send her the deposit (and just make sure I have an electronic/paper trail of our communication as well as get a 'receipt' from them)?
TIA!
I read (from VRBO's site) that a rental agreement is strongly recommended especially if you're paying by check, etc.
I ended up calling and talking with the VRBO owner of the unit we are interested in renting and had a nice conversation. She was definitely willing to work something in but wasn't quite sure what to put in it, so she asked if I could help with listing out my concerns of what might go into the contract.
Otherwise, the owner sounded trustworthy and I've verified that she and her husband are in fact the owners. Should I just forgo having a rental contract and send her the deposit (and just make sure I have an electronic/paper trail of our communication as well as get a 'receipt' from them)?
TIA!
We had even rented from the owner before, and she has a lot of positive comments. I asked if we needed a new contract or if we could use the old one, and asked about when to send in the deposit. She replied "You're set, it's reserved." I e-mailed her again asking about the deposit as we got closer, and her reply was "oops, forgot that I rented to you and I've since rented it out again." So, we had to scramble to find somewhere else and that was a major pain. My fault for not insisting on a contract so I'd be covered by trip insurance.
My radar is going off on the owners, seems like they're new at this and I'd be very wary of the same sort of issue. Some folks treat it as a business, others don't. We've had our best stays with the former. You could get lucky with these folks, or they could turn into flakes. Even with a contract, you have little enough protection unless you're using a credit card.
Sep 27, 2011, 7:49 pm
#20
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Calgary, Alberta
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Just some protection for them, in case users damage the property.. which could get costly..
Feb 20, 2015, 2:03 pm
#21
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 1
Problem with VRBO/HomeAway owner
The home we signed a contract for is no longer on the site and after googling we see that it was put on the market just 2 weeks after we signed the contract. Have not been able to reach the owner -- and the pictures on the for sale sites show an almost empty house. What do we do now? We already paid our $2100 deposit and haven't heard from the owner since.
Feb 20, 2015, 3:05 pm
#22
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As an owner, I always insist on a contract and always insist on credit card transactions through the VRBO system. It just seems much safer that way. I've only had one disaster - a renter had a huge party, disturbed the neighborhood and trashed some of the furnishings, resulting in me having to find alternative accommodation for the next renters over the July 4 weekend. I withheld the deposit, the renter tried to do a chargeback but I prevailed. I was still out of pocket and I'm still very upset about the whole episode.
