MVC owners: Does this [rental] process sound legitimate?

[afdakhil]

I need a quick sanity check from experienced MVC owners.

I’m renting a Week 32 reservation at Newport Coast Villas (Aug 7–14, 2026).

I sent a $500 deposit. After that, I was told an additional $480 MVC enrollment/occupancy fee must be paid before the reservation can be fully enrolled and verified in my name.

I was sent the attached screenshot showing:

• Status: Confirmed
• Guest Certificate: Processed

However:

• The reservation number was partially redacted.
• Marriott could not locate the reservation based on the information available to me.
• I was told there is no way to verify the reservation until the $480 is paid.

Questions:

1. Have any of you ever seen a $480 MVC enrollment/occupancy fee for a guest reservation?
2. Is it normal for a reservation showing “Confirmed” and “Guest Certificate: Processed” to still be unverifiable?
3. Is it normal that a renter cannot receive the full reservation number before paying such a fee?
4. Would you send the additional $480 without being able to independently verify the reservation?

Attached is the screenshot I received with my personal information removed.

 

[WBP]

I need a quick sanity check from experienced MVC owners.

I’m renting a Week 32 reservation at Newport Coast Villas (Aug 7–14, 2026).

I sent a $500 deposit. After that, I was told an additional $480 MVC enrollment/occupancy fee must be paid before the reservation can be fully enrolled and verified in my name.

I was sent the attached screenshot showing:

• Status: Confirmed
• Guest Certificate: Processed

However:

• The reservation number was partially redacted.
• Marriott could not locate the reservation based on the information available to me.
• I was told there is no way to verify the reservation until the $480 is paid.

Questions:

1. Have any of you ever seen a $480 MVC enrollment/occupancy fee for a guest reservation?
2. Is it normal for a reservation showing “Confirmed” and “Guest Certificate: Processed” to still be unverifiable?
3. Is it normal that a renter cannot receive the full reservation number before paying such a fee?
4. Would you send the additional $480 without being able to independently verify the reservation?

Attached is the screenshot I received with my personal information removed.

I hope I’m wrong, but it looks totally scandalous to me.

I suggest you call Marriott Owner Services, in the USA, or email them; send them a copy of your alleged confirmation. I’m not sure that MVW Owner Services will talk to you, but, they may.

 

[afdakhil]

I hope I’m wrong, but it looks totally scandalous to me.

I suggest you call Marriott Owner Services, in the USA, or email them; send them a copy of your alleged confirmation. I’m not sure that MVW Owner Services will talk to you, but, they may.

Additional context: I already contacted MVC Owner Services twice. They advised they could not discuss the reservation because I am not the owner and directed me to Marriott/Bonvoy. I also contacted Marriott/Bonvoy, but they were unable to locate a reservation under my name based on the information available to me.

 

[echino]

Looks like a scam. Don't send any money. This is not how legitimate MVC rentals work.

 

[DeniseM]

It looks like a scam - WHERE did you find this rental? Who did you rent from? Did you pay with a credit card?

 

[Venter]

I am an owner who rents. I live in the USA. There is no such process. All you do is go on the website and change the reservation into the renter's name. If given the correct information you should also be able to verify the reservation by calling the resort directly.
I would be very cautious as the procedure sounds like they are trying to get more money out of you before they take off.

 

[afdakhil]

It looks like a scam - WHERE did you find this rental? Who did you rent from? Did you pay with a credit card?

I posted a Wanted ad here on TUG and was contacted directly by email by someone identifying herself as Mary Baker. Payment was sent via Zelle, not a credit card. I’ve successfully used Zelle before with another MVC rental without any issues and was able to independently verify that reservation. Based on the feedback I’m receiving here, I intend to share the full details and documentation privately with the moderators.

 

[DeniseM]

Here's what you need to do - scroll down and click on "Contact BBS Admin," at the bottom of the page, and send them all of the details.

 

[afdakhil]

Here's what you need to do - scroll down and click on "Contact BBS Admin," at the bottom of the page, and send them all of the details.

Done. Thank you!

 

[CO skier]

Payment was sent via Zelle, not a credit card. I’ve successfully used Zelle before with another MVC rental without any issues and was able to independently verify that reservation.

I recently signed up with Zelle. It was made abundantly clear, multiple times "Make sure you only send money to people you personally know and trust." and "Unlike a credit card, Zelle® does not offer a protection program for any authorized payments made with Zelle® – for example, if you do not receive the item or the item is not as described or as you expected."

A Zelle transfer is, for all practical purposes, a cashiers check, which make it irresistible to scamsters.

 

[b2bailey]

I recently signed up with Zelle. It was made abundantly clear, multiple times "Make sure you only send money to people you personally know and trust." and "Unlike a credit card, Zelle® does not offer a protection program for any authorized payments made with Zelle® – for example, if you do not receive the item or the item is not as described or as you expected."

A Zelle transfer is, for all practical purposes, a cashiers check, which make it irresistible to scamsters.

I'd say Zelle is just like cash. A Cashier's Check will sometimes have a hold placed by your bank. Zelle gets delivered immediately without recourse.

 

[davidvel]

I've never seen a screenshot like this, maybe it is an international portal? But nothing here adds up. I've never heard of an MVC "guest certificate". Also, what does enrolled have to do with anything? Sounds like a scam. Mis-using terms, no proof of reservation, run, Forrest, run. Write off the $500 as a learning fee.

 

[dioxide45]

This is certainly a scam. Somewhat well known on rental wanted transactions. @TUGBrian

Don’t send any more money.

 

[dioxide45]

You shouldn’t have to pay any money to get a confirmation in your name. If you don’t pay the owner can just remove your name.

 

[CO skier]

I'd say Zelle is just like cash. A Cashier's Check will sometimes have a hold placed by your bank. Zelle gets delivered immediately without recourse.

Hence my modifying phrase " for all practical purposes" as it relates to the payor , which is the topic here. Then there is the limit placed by banks on Zelle transfers, versus cashier's checks which are generally limited only by the funds in the payor's account. Someone could pay for a house with a cashier's check (or cash ); not so with a Zelle transfer.

Does any of this minutiae matter for this thread? Of course not.

fyi - there is no "recourse" for a payor when it comes to a cashier's check -- just like Zelle -- because a cashier's check is drawn on bank funds. Had the OP paid by cashier's check instead of Zelle -- no "recourse" with either payment option equals no difference for the payor, which is why "cashier's check" is another form of payment favored by scamsters.

 

[TUGBrian]

we have blocked the email address provided by this user as it has all the signs of a scam.

the problem is free email email accounts can be made in bulk at any time and scammers use plenty of them especially once someone catches on

we continue to advise ANYONE to do the basic verification steps outlined here before any money changes hands:

How to Verify Timeshare Rentals: Spot Legitimate Deals & Avoid Scams

Get expert tips and a free checklist to verify if a timeshare rental is legitimate, avoid scams, and save money on discounted vacation deals.

tug2.net

These scams continue to work because they are able to convince people to ignore red flags or not perform many if any of these suggested steps. Even a simple phone call is a great way to fish out a huge % of these, and that should IMO be done before you send money to a complete stranger for any reason.

another recent suggestion ive heard is to pay any money using a us post office money order, as such any fraud/scams that utilize that (and the mail) fall under the investigative jurisdiction of the us post office which is far more likely to make efforts to track down the scammer than any local law enforcement agency.

 

[CO skier]

far more likely

... is a highly relative term ...

I am sure the postal authorities would not spend any resources investigating a $500 postal money order. They have much bigger fish to fry, and "ya can't get them all."

Based on personal experience with recovering more than $3,000 from an eBay timeshare sale gone bad (5 months after the sale), credit card companies are way, waaaay, waaaaaaay more effective at recovering monies for fraudulent or undelivered merchandise, because in my case the shyster must have still had an open account with the credit card company. jacgill-47 is still selling trinkets on eBay, but not timeshares

After that experience, "What? You do not accept credit cards?" See ya!

Even paying a 3% "service charge" to use a credit card is cheap insurance.

 

[WBP]

we have blocked the email address provided by this user as it has all the signs of a scam.

the problem is free email email accounts can be made in bulk at any time and scammers use plenty of them especially once someone catches on

we continue to advise ANYONE to do the basic verification steps outlined here before any money changes hands:

How to Verify Timeshare Rentals: Spot Legitimate Deals & Avoid Scams

Get expert tips and a free checklist to verify if a timeshare rental is legitimate, avoid scams, and save money on discounted vacation deals.

tug2.net

These scams continue to work because they are able to convince people to ignore red flags or not perform many if any of these suggested steps. Even a simple phone call is a great way to fish out a huge % of these, and that should IMO be done before you send money to a complete stranger for any reason.

another recent suggestion ive heard is to pay any money using a us post office money order, as such any fraud/scams that utilize that (and the mail) fall under the investigative jurisdiction of the us post office which is far more likely to make efforts to track down the scammer than any local law enforcement agency.

Our experience dealing with the US Postal Service Postal Police made dealing with Internal Revenue Service seem like a day of heli-skiing in pristine powder.