Significant and worthy of note and consideration here is the fact that there was apparently
no formal rental agreement of any kind ever executed. Paypal is highly unlikely to "back" the would-be renter here, as PayPal offers little or no protection in "non tangibles" transactions --- such as rentals.
Accordingly, without either taking sides or professing expertise, my own thoughts are that the deposit is almost certainly
gone (after all, July 24 is now less than a week away) and that the would-be renter will
not / should
not "owe" the remaining balance.
Both parties may well lose a bit here, but to repeat a critically important point ---
no rental agreement was ever executed identifiying a cancellation policy.
IMHO a detailed rental agreement prevents problems for both the owner and the renter and both know what is expected.
That is why if someone rents from us through Paypal I have then put in the info box the they agree to all of the rental terms in ad number for the resort dates and unit listed that ad. I also have it in all of our rental agreements that there are no refunds but have it written and suggested in our ads that they purchase renters insurance for cases of injury, sickness, etc.
I get 100 % upfront payment to secure the rental as in the first year of renting people had all kinds of excuses and I ended up chasing money. I caught a couple in lies as they had found desperate last minute lowered rentals a week or so before checking in that creates a big problem for us as owners..
How would a renter feel if they had rented something from a owner and one week before check in the owner emails back your Paypal payment and cancels your reservation after you made all kinds of travel and other monetary arrangements because you did not have a signed contact for a high demand resort week?
What if the owner emailed the renter that the owner had found another renter who would sign a rental agreement and pay him $500 more and now does not want to honor their word and oral commitment.
Heck, some complain that our rental agreements are to detailed because they are to lazy to spend a couple minutes reading about the terms of the rental that they may be paying us $199 to $1,599 on a rental.
Some even complain on a short ad the quotes the price dates and resort in the first 2 sentences.
Here are edited parts of items that are in all of our rental agreements and this one from one of our restricked redweek ads were we are not allowed to put in the links to 7 or so companies like we on VTR .
4. Length of rental week number 34 is for 7 Full nights. Your rental begins upon check in at 4:00 PM Saturday August 20, 2011 and check-out is on or before Saturday August 27, 2011 If you do not plan to check in on your assigned check in date, but plan to check in on a later date we suggest that you contact the resort and advise them of that fact one or two days before your reservation check in date as stated on your confirmed reservation. By calling them a head of time they will know that you still plan to use it and not mistakenly assign your unit to someone else.
There is a no refund policy once the timeshare is rented. The only type of refund that would be allowed is if the this unit is if it is uninhabitable as stated in part numbered section 7 of this rental lease agreement, and no other similar units are available for the same week at this resort. The parties have signed their names below to evidence their agreement to the terms and conditions of this rental lease.
5A. Rent for this unit as listed for the date above is only $XXX. (in US Dollars) ) plus a mandatory $XX Housekeeping fee that is to be paid directly to the resort with a major credit card upon check in. We are Pay Pal verified with a Pay Pal Premier account so you can pay us with Pay Pal if you prefer.
PLEASE NOTE, NO PERSONAL CHECKS WILL BE ACCEPTED if with in 30 days of the check date, DO NOT SEND CASH.
If it is with in 30 days or less of the reservation check in date that you want, please only pay by either Paypal or send a UNITED STATES POSTAL OFFICE MONEY ORDER By US Priority mail. Please email us the postal tracking number and a copy of that money order asap by email or fax to confirm to us that your payment is on the way to secure your reservation. We will in most cases hold that reservation for 7 days from date you send that email or fax. Or you can use PAYPAL to make your rental payment.
6. The tenant agrees to rent the Unit from the landlord, and the landlord agrees to lease the Unit to the tenant.
7. The term of the lease is only for the exact period designated in paragraph 4. The tenant may use the Unit during the term without interference subject to the terms of this lease. If the Unit is not habitable on the day that the term starts by reason of flood, fire, storm, or for any other reason, the landlord shall refund the rent forth with and will there after have no further liability to tenant. Renter's Travel Insurance that could help lessen any financial loss because of unforeseen circumstances of storms and other weather problems, travel problems like airline strikes or Airline Bankruptcies, health , etc problems or any other problems causing financial loss the landlord did not cause and is not responsible for.
You may also want to contact local travel agents and check out the cost of the of a level of a Travel Insurance package that you feel comfortable to protect your self against unforeseen circumstances that may affect or end your vacation plans.
Bruce
