You can rent timeshares directly between an individual owner and traveler without a license, however, a real estate license is required in most states for a third party to handle a rental transaction. An unlicensed advertising, exchange, marketing or travel company will not and can not legally help you negotiate the rental, verify the reservation, properly handle the rental trust funds, track the transaction and make sure the owner and the traveler perform according to the terms of the rental agreement. Additionally, look for brokers specializing in owner rentals with listings coming from owner based inventory. Many companies will use exchange weeks, liquidated developer promotional weeks, and bulk wholesale weeks as their rental inventory. This creates a direct conflict for owners and a probable unexpected promotional condition for travelers. The goal of a timeshare rental broker should be to negotiate a fair market rental transaction on behalf of an owner and traveler. Since the owner, traveler and the resort can be located in different states, the following guidelines should be followed for selecting your licensed agent
In addition, your timeshare rental agent should co-operate with other timeshare brokers thru a broker network. To locate potential timeshare brokers; check with your resort or management company for an on-site or regional rental broker, research local newspapers, and the classified sections of major newspapers. Then ask for their information package and evaluate very carefully. FINAL NOTE: ALWAYS USE A LICENSED TIMESHARE REAL ESTATE BROKER SPECIALIZING IN OWNER BASED INVENTORY TO RENT A TIMESHARE. |