Question about risks of renting from stra.,ngers
 

I am planning to rent a house in TV soon and it occurs to me that I am about to send a five figure check to a stranger who posted pictures and a description of a house on a website. The person does not need to actually own a house to post these pictures and collect checks from multiple strangers. Am I being paranoid or is this a real risk? I know lots of people have been ripped off on adds for cars on E-bay and Craigslist. Do the people operating these websites confirm that the person listing the rental actually owns or manages the properties they are advertising?

no, you are not paranoid, but concerned about scamming
 

There must be a way to look up the current owner in the legal filings on line with the county, I would start there. . .

It is a real risk. I don't think you can depend on the website to help you. But, you can verify who owns the house by going to the county real estate website. You can also ask the owner for some previous renters as references. I would feel more comfortable if the landlord would accept a credit card, but that may not be possible.

Or, you could rent a house from a recognized business, like a licensed broker or The Villages Management Company.

Before buying down here we rented during the winter months for several years and when renting from an individual that was a concern, never had a problem but you never know. There are also bad management companies down here so you have to be careful.

You can look on the county website, how long they have owned, how many homes they own, and their tax records. Asking for previous renters can help, but you could be talking to anyone. There are hundreds of homes for rent, and rarely do you find or hear of a problem. There are property rental companies, but not the way I would go. We rented from 07 until we bought in 2010, with no problems.

The property records are found at sumterpa.com. You can start by entering the address and the owner of the property and the date they acquired will be listed.

You don't need to enter the address and the owner's name. Only one of the two is needed. There are also similar websites for Lake and Marion counties.

Property tax records are public. One can look up if tax was paid and when by address. The owner’s name is included.

I remember trying to rent at Whistler BC one year. The person offering their Chalet for rent was writing from central Africa....

I had the same concern and I'll tell you what I did which worked for me. The first year I paid the extra $ and went through DownHome Properties. It was more expensive, but I felt secure, and the place was well appointed, and when there was an issue with plumbing it was dealt with quickly and efficiently. That was a 3 month rental.
During that 3 months I found a private renter, who I got to meet an walk through the place with. That made me feel more secure, when I rented from him. It was considerably less expensive, but not as well appointed. Not as many towels, dishes etc not as complete or as nice.

There was still some risk, but I felt a lot better about it than I would have just sending a wad of cash and hoping that someone and some place would be there when I showed up.

Good luck.

Yeah, Tax records would be the first place I'd look just to be sure.

I've not had any trouble renting our CYV, but then I'm up front about everything and we have a good contract that lays everything out clearly. You can also research us in the tax records too. My phone even comes through with the right name when I call. I would say that a preponderance of things when put together can give you enough to trust someone.

Good thing you caught that bit on the chalet, holy moly, that'd be sending cash right down a black hole.

So, the Chalet is not a good deal? I don't even know what a Chalet is.

A Chalet is a building built into a mountain. I found a picture of one, not the one I was looking at though.

It's what you pour wine into. :D

Rented for over 20 years, never had a problem.
I use the villagershomes4rent.com website only.
You can rent directly through TV I believe, but have never used them.

****? Airbnb?
 

Do **** and Airbnb operate in The Villages? If so, booking through them would give you some indication of credibility.

Contact a local Realtor to handle the lease for you. The one time transaction fee will give you peace of mind knowing someone is representing your interest.

If you are sending money for a rental ask for a copy of their government issued ID for whom the check is made out to and cross reference with the property appraisers office to verify ownership "before" sending any money. To add an additional level of security you might want to pay a local Realtor to assist you for a one time transaction fee.

Man o man, the biggest scams on the internet are real photos from fake people. My brother in law in the Poconos once had people show up at one of his rental homes who had gotten the screwed . He reported it to the FBI. All the advice above is excellent especially the tax records I don't know anyone that will give you a copy of their license etc. If you're not sure of the rental, one last thing to do is to try to get the real name of the owner through the tax records and call them up through 411 and not use the phone number given to you through email

We are Brits who rent our house out over the winter months.
Our issue is the reverse, who can we trust as renters.
We use **** and have had virtually no issues.
Their charges are a bit steep but we feel happier using them.
You should be able to get a good discount this year, as there are fewer snowbirds travelling if our experience is anything to go by.
No renters for us this year but already booked for the next one.
So haggle over the price would be our advice

I’m a gambler I rented my house on my own but I did my due diligence.You should be nervous sending money to someone you don’t know.

Go through a management company. Good luck!!

Look up address on tax records for that county. Shows owner, etc.

The first time I rented, I used one of the large short term rental sites - they seem to somewhat validate the owners. Second time, I knew who the agency in the Villages was, who actually handled the rental, and i went directly to them (saving a few hundred $$ on the online fee).
I am not sure I would rent from a classified type add for a short term rental- others might, i am just hesitant.

Don't do it. Use a realtor. Five figures? Wow, quite costy. Use a realtor, we do.

Good advice.

Some people rent out their own properties, HOWEVER, I knew someone who paid for a rental and found that when they went to the home that the people living in it were not the people who rented it. Good luck finding them. Checking public records is a good place to start.

Villagershomes4rent.com or VH4R.com

Are you going to a legit site or just some rag tag ad that popped up. Many are checked out. Go to Homeaway.com. Not only are there reviews but the owners also review the tenants so other owners can beware. Ive done it numerous times and the house is usually even better than the ad

Yes, I verified first with Sumter assessor's website. It not only confirmed name but also their mailing address so I knew it wasn't someone just posing as the owner.

As an owner myself and a renter before I understand every aspects on the issue. You NEVER know who you are dealing with on both sides. I used to rent with **** to have an intermediary in case of issue. Now I put my rental house also on ****. Lots of exposures, less fees than a management company and they offer property damages cover to the renter for $50. The renter don't have to pay a big deposit and wait for an eventual refund. Everyone is happier this way. An other tip, if you decide to rent from an owner, I recommend you pick one who is a permanent resident on site.
Good luck to you.

There are many rental agencies that list homes for rent,, including the Villages Properties. You don’t deal with the owner only the agency. You’re not saving that much money and if there’s an issue with the rental while you are there you make one call directly to the rental agency.

There are a number of good suggestions here. The first time I rented, in 2010, I was a bit concerned, as you are. I had no problems. It turned out the person I was dealing with was the manager of the property. The owner had a book in the home explaining this. The second time I rented, in 2012, I rented the same home using the same manager.

People have been ripped off that way... and, it depends where the home was listed. Do your due diligence.

Be very careful. Places like craigslist run scams all the time. I worked 12 years for a vacation rental company and criminals would copy the photos and details off our website, put the house on craigslist with their information and ask for a large deposit. Usually they offered a discounted price, so if it seems too good to be true it probably is a scam. Places like **** are safer but your best bet is to go through a local rental company that you can verify. That way they should have maintenance people etc. on staff And also there are options in case an owner decides to pull the rental for some reason.

There are many wonderful owner-managed Vacation rentals but Be cautious about scams.

We always checked the tax rolls, verified where the owner said they lived, googled their name for backgrounds and only rented through villagershomes4rent or a safe property mgmt firm. Good luck. You should be fine as long as you are careful.

Agree, know many who've used this without any problems. Generally, scammers are cheap and use a free site like Craigslist while Villagershomes4rent costs the poster.

Question about risks of renting from strangers.
 

I rented out my condo in the FL Keys. A woman called to rent it, said she was getting married, and her husband's boss would pay for it. We agreed on a price. She called back. The boss had sent a check to her for $1,000 too much. She would send the check and asked that I send one for $1,000. This was a scam. So owners can get scammed, too. I would check with the County. I always advertised in the Sun. I never had problems getting renters for my homes in TV.

It’s the wild Wild West out there ! I personally would not do it. I rented from villages rental service and they’re the scum of the earth. Toilets and sewer backed up 4 times in a month could not shower flush etc. my deposit was by credit card and I had to dispute their refusal to return it. It took7 months and sadly I would have paid attention and not stayed.

Listen to your instinct. Proof of ownership in person and get a place thru a friend

Villages management is a private business and they are crooks! Awful people don’t even see the properties and you won’t see your security deposit unless like me you must dispute took 7 months with Visa !

So the plumbing sewer issues are chronic? My toilets exploded and shower and sink! Took 4 visits to finally dig up sewer and replace underground plastic piping ! Hometown property are crooks