# Liability



## Judy (Apr 16, 2010)

The question of owner liability for any damage that might be done by an exchanger comes up often.  In regards to Worldmark, someone always posts that we as owners would be liable if any damage was done by an exchanger not booked by RCI or II.  Can you tell me whether DAE has a system in place that would protect Worldmark owners from paying for the cost of any damage that an exchanger might do while in a Worldmark resort booked by us and deposited with DAE?


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## DeniseM (Apr 16, 2010)

Doesn't the exchanger have to provide a valid credit card at check-in?


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## Judy (Apr 17, 2010)

DeniseM said:


> Doesn't the exchanger have to provide a valid credit card at check-in?


I don't know from personal experience.  I've been told "no".


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## Ask DAE (Apr 17, 2010)

In many cases the person checking in will be asked for a credit card for incidentals and damage. But in any case, we (by eay of our member terms and conditions) hold the booking member accountable for any damages to the units and will ensure that that booking member is indeed held accountable for such. We will take care of any issues before the owner is faced with any undue charges. 

This is outside of any resort policies, but we do stand by our terms, conditions and enforce them actively. 

Thank you for your inquiry.

Fermin


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## LLW (Apr 18, 2010)

Ask DAE said:


> In many cases the person checking in will be asked for a credit card for incidentals and damage. But in any case, *we *(by eay of our member terms and conditions) hold the booking member accountable for any damages to the units and *will ensure that that booking member is indeed held accountable for such.* *We will take care of any issues before the owner is faced with any undue charges. *
> 
> This is outside of any resort policies, but we do stand by our terms, conditions and enforce them actively.
> 
> ...


Does "We will take care of any issues before the owner is faced with any undue charges" mean DAE (or your insurer) will pay Worldmark the damage amount when WM goes after the owner for the same, or.....? How will you "ensure that the booking member is held accountable," e.g. in the case when WM bills for extra cleaning that is is needed for extra filth left behind by the booking member?


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## BocaBum99 (Apr 18, 2010)

LLW said:


> Does "We will take care of any issues before the owner is faced with any undue charges" mean DAE (or your insurer) will pay Worldmark the damage amount when WM goes after the owner for the same, or.....? How will you "ensure that the booking member is held accountable," e.g. in the case when WM bills for extra cleaning that is is needed for extra filth left behind by the booking member?



My guess is that if an exchanger from DAE or SFX did damage to the unit, WorldMark would first notify and charge the owner of the unit.  Then, that owner would submit the charges to DAE or SFX.  DAE or SFX would reimburse the owner and try to charge to exchanger or cancel their account.

It rarely ever happens.  For some reason, timeshare owners, exchangers and renters are pretty good tenants.


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## LLW (Apr 20, 2010)

BocaBum99 said:


> My guess is that if an exchanger from DAE or SFX did damage to the unit, WorldMark would first notify and charge the owner of the unit.  Then, that owner would submit the charges to DAE or SFX.  *DAE or SFX would reimburse the owner *and try to charge to exchanger or cancel their account.
> 
> It rarely ever happens.  For some reason, timeshare owners, exchangers and renters are pretty good tenants.



That would be nice if they reimburse the owner.


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## Ask DAE (Apr 20, 2010)

DAE would take care of any damage and hold the exchanger accountable thereafter. The reality is that we would handle the situation just like RCI or II. 

It is indeed a very rare occasion when this happens with any exchanging member. We do all that is neccessary to protect the owner and the member. For this reason we do not allow the rental of any of our exchanged units and again, clearly set expectations of liability to the booking exchange in our membership terms and conidtions.

Thanks again for the inquiry


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## Judy (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks for the answer DAE.  That's what I was hoping.  If I see another post that says WM owners are held responsible, I'll refer the poster to this thread.


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## melschey (Apr 20, 2010)

Judy said:


> Thanks for the answer DAE.  That's what I was hoping.  If I see another post that says WM owners are held responsible, I'll refer the poster to this thread.



He doesn't go as far as to say that DAE will accept the liability if the exchanger can't or won't fulfill their responsibilities to pay for the damages. Just because the contract says the exchanger is responsible doesn't mean that they will fulfill their responsibilities to pay for damages.

What if the exchanger damages the property and DAE can’t get them to pay for the damages. I have not been able to get DAE to confirm that they would pay for the damages. In this case if DAE doesn’t pay for the damages WM IMHO will certainly look to the owner the pay for them.  The risk is small but I feel the risk is there and until DAE will promise to pay for the damages if the exchanger can’t or won’t I don’t plan on using them.


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## LLW (Apr 21, 2010)

melschey said:


> He doesn't go as far as to say that DAE will accept the liability if the exchanger can't or won't fulfill their responsibilities to pay for the damages. Just because the contract says the exchanger is responsible doesn't mean that they will fulfill their responsibilities to pay for damages.
> 
> What if the exchanger damages the property and DAE can’t get them to pay for the damages. I have not been able to get DAE to confirm that they would pay for the damages. In this case if DAE doesn’t pay for the damages WM IMHO will certainly look to the owner the pay for them.  The risk is small but I feel the risk is there and until DAE will promise to pay for the damages if the exchanger can’t or won’t I don’t plan on using them.




And if DAE will pay for the damages, or get the bill from WM directly, they would get a lot more WM exchanges. Since the risk is low, for a business the cost impact would be minimal whereas it might be significant for an individual owner.

In the case of RCI or II, the WM owner does not even get billed by WM.


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## eschjw (Apr 22, 2010)

*Reread DAE's post #8*



melschey said:


> He doesn't go as far as to say that DAE will accept the liability if the exchanger can't or won't fulfill their responsibilities to pay for the damages.




When I read DAE's post number #8, I interpet it as saying that they would accept the liability first and then go after then exchanger. It seems like a clear response to the question to me. What am I missing and what do you see that tells you otherwise?


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## Ask DAE (Apr 25, 2010)

Correct. We take care of the issue with the resort and hold the exchanger responsible for what costs they have incurred.


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