This post concerns the practice of some members booking "choice/prime" reservations, not with the intent of actually using them for themselves, their family, or their friends, but with the sole intent of selling them to a non-DVC member for profit. I believe that this speculative booking with the intent of renting is unfair to other DVC members.
I am not against transferring of points between DVC members. I am not against renting of excess or unusable points to non-DVC members. I don't have a problem with members renting confirmed reservations that they initially had intended on using, but now something has come up that prevents them from doing so.
I do have a problem with members booking choice reservations (choice times: Christmas/New Years; choice rooms: Grand Villa; choice locations: BCV during F&W) with the intent of never using them, but with the sole intent of selling the reservations for profit.
A reservation made for rental purposes is likely to be held for many months awaiting a non-member who is interested in the specific date / resort / room size that has been booked. I don't think anyone objects to people booking trips for actual use, nor do they object to rental transactions where a room is booked as a result of a request from the renter. It's the speculative renting that rubs people the wrong way.
I feel this practice is detrimental to other DVC members, as it hurts their chances of booking those "choice" reservations themselves.
It’s undeniable that if people stop pre-booking reservations for the sole purpose of renting months down the road, more people will be successful at booking their preferred accommodation at 11 or 7 months.
DVC and the POS prohibit commercial (i.e., for profit) renting, speculative or otherwise. Using DVC primarily to rent and make a profit (speculatively of high demand times or not) falls under that definition.
Use of Vacation Homes and recreational facilities for commercial purposes or any purposes other than the personal use described in this Declaration is expressly prohibited. "Commercial Purposes" includes a pattern of rental activity or other occupancy by an Owner that the Board, in its reasonable discretion, could conclude constitutes a commercial enterprise or practice.
There are various Disney-related web sites that host forums for DVC topics. Some allow the posting of “rental” advertising. These boards are probably the main reason renting even exists. Without these boards, there would surely be a lot fewer owners renting points or reservations to strangers, and most of us would not even know renting existed or feel any effect from it. The boards may not have any legal obligation or responsibility to manage the DVC program, but they certainly have influenced (and continue to influence) the way members use the program. So a case could be made that the boards have some obligation to mitigate the negative effects of their influence.
I appreciate the new rules implemented on the largest rent/trade board (The DIS) to lessen speculative renting by both casual and commercial renters for the benefit of most members. I am proud that the DIS had the courage to take the steps they did. They saw a problem and understood that as the largest rental board around, they had an obligation to do what they could to improve the situation for the vast majority of DVC owners.
I am not against transferring of points between DVC members. I am not against renting of excess or unusable points to non-DVC members. I don't have a problem with members renting confirmed reservations that they initially had intended on using, but now something has come up that prevents them from doing so.
I do have a problem with members booking choice reservations (choice times: Christmas/New Years; choice rooms: Grand Villa; choice locations: BCV during F&W) with the intent of never using them, but with the sole intent of selling the reservations for profit.
A reservation made for rental purposes is likely to be held for many months awaiting a non-member who is interested in the specific date / resort / room size that has been booked. I don't think anyone objects to people booking trips for actual use, nor do they object to rental transactions where a room is booked as a result of a request from the renter. It's the speculative renting that rubs people the wrong way.
I feel this practice is detrimental to other DVC members, as it hurts their chances of booking those "choice" reservations themselves.
It’s undeniable that if people stop pre-booking reservations for the sole purpose of renting months down the road, more people will be successful at booking their preferred accommodation at 11 or 7 months.
DVC and the POS prohibit commercial (i.e., for profit) renting, speculative or otherwise. Using DVC primarily to rent and make a profit (speculatively of high demand times or not) falls under that definition.
Use of Vacation Homes and recreational facilities for commercial purposes or any purposes other than the personal use described in this Declaration is expressly prohibited. "Commercial Purposes" includes a pattern of rental activity or other occupancy by an Owner that the Board, in its reasonable discretion, could conclude constitutes a commercial enterprise or practice.
There are various Disney-related web sites that host forums for DVC topics. Some allow the posting of “rental” advertising. These boards are probably the main reason renting even exists. Without these boards, there would surely be a lot fewer owners renting points or reservations to strangers, and most of us would not even know renting existed or feel any effect from it. The boards may not have any legal obligation or responsibility to manage the DVC program, but they certainly have influenced (and continue to influence) the way members use the program. So a case could be made that the boards have some obligation to mitigate the negative effects of their influence.
I appreciate the new rules implemented on the largest rent/trade board (The DIS) to lessen speculative renting by both casual and commercial renters for the benefit of most members. I am proud that the DIS had the courage to take the steps they did. They saw a problem and understood that as the largest rental board around, they had an obligation to do what they could to improve the situation for the vast majority of DVC owners.
