Renting agreement

How important is this? I have a property I am interested in but the renter does not provide renting agreement ( he said that the property is family operated endevour and he does not provide renting agreements). We spoke to him on the phone and he ';sounds'; legit. He said that he is happy to provide e-mails of previous guests so that we can chat to them.

We rented properties in the past withought agreements and basically had no problems.

What do you guys think?

Thanks!

Renting agreement

No way would I rent without a rental agreement. Now having said that, just because you have a rental agreement doesn%26#39;t guarantee the ';owner is legit';.

Every owner I know who rents their properties has some sort of rental agreement. Rental agreements can be found all over the internet. Being a ';family operated endevour'; does not eliminate the need for a rental agreement.

Think about it this way--I manage an apartment building (not in SC) for long term renters. Do you think any of them would rent without a lease or rental agreement? Just because you rent for a week doesn%26#39;t mean you shouldn%26#39;t have an agreement.

Just curious, does the owner you are dealing with require a security deposit? (If yes, you%26#39;d better get some sort of agreement that explains what is expected of you the rental guest).

Renting agreement

There is no reason they can%26#39;t provide some kind of agreement. I would NEVER rent something without a contract.

AGREE. AGREE. AGREE.

No matter how ';nice'; the owner appears to be, you do not know these people and you are not staying in the home as a private guest. You are not willingly assuming the risks that you might undertake as a family friend in a known location.

It is important for your protection, and the owners%26#39;, that there be a rental agreement. Explain to the owner that you would feel much more comfortable if you had a simple statement in writing of the terms of your agreement. Simple tenancy agreements are easy to turn up online, so he doesn%26#39;t have to ';reinvent the wheel';.

If the owner will not provide a written agreement, there is something wrong ... Maybe the owner is trying to avoid business license fees or hotel tax or declaration of rental income on income tax? Maybe the home is located in an area where short-term tenancies are not permitted? No matter what his reasons, you so not want to be party to the scheme.

This renter does not require security deposit. His deal is 50% now and 50% 30 days before arrival.We finally found something we liked .....withought rental agreement. Great :(

So, your agreement is that there will be no rental agreement? just cash-in-hand, now and 30 days before arrival?

To those of us who own South Carolina vacation-rental property (like myself and OurGreatEscape) the lack of a rental agreement sounds very strange. If it is somewhat generic place, set up for the rental market, then why not the rental agreement? Also, if this place is a beloved family home - complete with treasured family artifacts, then why not a security deposit?

Sorry to sound so distrustful, but I hope that you are paying with a credit card that will offer you some financial protection should anything go wrong. (Of course, if something should go wrong, the lack of an agreement will be a problem, even with a credit card.)

Good luck with this. I really hope that all goes well for you. In some areas of the USA, like New York City, you should NEVER try this approach to renting. Luckily for you, scams are rare on Hilton Head.

VickyCanada,

There are a couple of things you can do to protect yourself in the event you decide to rent from this chap. First, I%26#39;d ask who is property manager is. Who do you call is something goes wrong?

Second, pay with a credit card. This gives you the ability to do a charge-back if things are not as has been presented to you (a charge-back is not a done deal and again may require a contract from the owner).

Third, get on line and check the property records. Double check the chap you%26#39;re dealing with is the actual owner (I believe HHI is Beaufort Co. and prop. records are online).

Fourth, google the owner%26#39;s name and phone number. Make sure everything matches--meaning the phone number you have matches the address he is giving.

KiawahVilla and I have heard of the nightmares in NYC about folks renting places that didn%26#39;t even exist! The vacation rentals industry is a booming biz. Unfortunately, there are people who want to take advantage of situation. When this happens, it makes those of us who take pride in our industry ( and work extremely hard to be ';transparent';) look bad.

JMO,

Eliza

Thanks,everyone

I will stongly take all your comments into account when making my decision. Presenlty the renter provided few references for me to chat with and I shall see what they have to say.

Vicky

Hi Vicky

You don%26#39;t mention if it is a house or a condo that you want to rent. You may not want to mention the house name here but if it is a condo then what is the complex name as the same unit/house might be available to rent through a rental agency. The reason I ask is that this year I rented a house from VRBO but when it came to sending in a deposit the owner asked me to go through Resort Quest. I have rented a few condos through vrbo and the owner has always sent me a rental contract. If you do go through with it then besides paying by credit card you could always send a check by recorded/special delivery(sorry this is English postal system terminology) whereby the recipient has to sign that they have received it. That way if your check is cashed you do have a record of it being received. I personally would be unhappy parting with 50% in case later on the owner says they never received it. However at the end of the day go with your gut instinct. Lee

Thank you Lee.

The property is on Homeaway.com and it is a condo. In fact, I already received an e-mail from one of the guests who previously stayed there and the reply was very positive ( they stayed there few times already and going again in March). Your suggestion is great though. I will look into it. Decisions,decisions.....

Vicky