There are happy advocates for timeshares and vacation clubs while others just claim that timeshares are just a scam. The timeshare topic always brings a variety of different opinions. You don’t have to be an advocate or fan of the timeshare industry as this isn’t the topic of this article. The topic of this article is why is the timeshare rental scams starting to threaten the timeshare industry. We have investigated this topic to provide information.
Timeshare – Rental Scams to Avoid
Timeshare rental scams are affecting not only innocent unsuspecting clients, but also timeshare membership owners that are only out to get their hands on your hard earned money. Maybe, you have found a great deal for a timeshare week at an amazing resort, and it is being advertised privately, so you think about it, then decide to reserve the vacation week for your family. You pay the money that is asked for the timeshare week, then you head out to enjoy your vacation with your family to only arrive at the resort and you are informed that the timeshare member that rented the week to you is behind on their maintenance fees or they didn’t book the week for you. There are an array of reasons that may be told to you, but the truth is that your timeshare week in not available or valid for you. This is a timeshare rental scam and they also involve themselves in other serious crimes such as credit card and identity theft too.
Can you protect yourself from a timeshare rental scam?
You can protect yourself from a timeshare rental scam by following a few simple steps that are provided below:
✓ Only use trustworthy websites for any timeshare rentals, so if you do decide to rent a timeshare week your information and credit card is safe and protected, and these trustworthy websites will provide you with an agreement and guarantee too.
✓ Timeshare rental rates that are very cheap and lower than the rivalry could be a clue that it may be a scam.
✓ The timeshare resort that you are considering a timeshare rental should have researched done prior to the rental to make sure that the resort actually exists, then you should check to see if there are previous customer reviews about the resort.
✓ Any timeshare rental that asks for direct deposits of cash or money wires for rental payment should be avoided as it’s probably a scam.
✓ One of the best tips to avoid a timeshare rental scams is never giving out your personal information, credit card information, banking passwords, or social security numbers.
✓ If you have indeed rented a timeshare week, then you should contact the timeshare company personally to make sure that a reservation has been booked for you by the person you rented it from and that they have made you an authorized guest. You may want to ask them if you need to pay any additional charges when you arrive or if there are any additional requirements that you need to know beforehand.
Timeshare – Owner Rental Scams
Not only can the timeshare rental scams affect buyers, but they also affect the timeshare owners too as they are wanting to rent out their weeks to prospective vacationers. These fraudulent timeshare rental companies like to charge upfront fees to rent timeshare weeks out, then they never promote the rental. If you are a timeshare owner and you want to rent your weeks out, then you should only deal with a company that works purely on commission.
