Villa Rentals..... money will not be returned !!!
 

If you had a Villa rental booked earlier this year and were told you could changed the date, then you have to cancel as your government, Canada, Europe or UK, will still NOT allow you to travel, and / or the US government will NOT allow you entry , The Villages WILL NOT give you a refund.

QUESTION......So who is keeping this money, the owner, or the villages. Even a 50% refund would be a kindness in these very difficult times. If the villa remain empty you have still made money to cover the basics.

Either way it is bad business practice, and a sure fire way to make plenty of cash for no outlay. Perhaps both Owners and Villages can try thinking of what will happen NEXT YEAR... A friend who is 73 is $2350 out of pocket, and they are suggesting they re-book next year... you must be joking... we are not all millionaires.....some take 2 years to save that money.

If you are allowed to change the date I don't see the problem, the borders will eventually open fully. I had reservations at Hilton Head for late March and even thought the resort closed due to the virus I was offered only an opportunity to re-book within one year, no refund.

Is this a Villages owned property that is rented to experience The Villages life style for interested buyers, or is it a house owned by a private individual? I'm not aware of The Villages renting houses other than the experiencing The Villages lifestyle. What does the rental agreement say on the matter of cancellations or rescheduling? That is the governing legal factor.

Why would your friends lose their money if they rescheduled for a later date? Again, what does the rental agreement say? If the property is privately owned The Villages won't be entitled to any money.

Did he rent trough Hometown property management or another company?

I suspect that you may not have all of the information on this

If there were travel restrictions and one could change the date...that was the 'heads up thing to do'....that's what we did
with lodging and air travel...ya just keep pushing it out until you can get a refund or 'bank' the money with them

A small Inn that we had paid close to $2K in advance for a 4 night escape is not refunding the money that we paid and planned to stay with them this past April...but they're holding it in a 'bank' for us to use between now and 2023

I would have preferred to receive a full refund...but the fine print that I unknowingly agreed to when I booked early and received a discounted rate stated no refunds

I had a rental booked for May, but because of the ban on foreign travel we were unable to take the rental, but the owner of the home has been fantastic sayIng they would work with us and we have moved the booking now to September and extended our stay, and if the world is still in turmoil come September then I am confident they will allow us to move it to next year, this kind of goodwill is why we will continue to rent from this couple many more time in the future, is about the bigger picture and a long term out look on both sides.

We are no saints but when our renters had to leave early because of the virus we gave them a full refund. They were from Canada.
Why? Because it was the right thing to do. I'm a firm believer in what goers around comes around.

Op I read your post more than once. You are bringing up multiple scenarios. Is this a lifestyle, for $2350. Then it would be the developer, who is offering to change the date.
Is it a property management company, for a private individual? Then the property owner has no say on what happens to the $$ since they are under contract with management company.
Or is it an individual they are dealing with? Since it’s not you, info is second hand and not sure anyone can help you. Other than an offer was made to rebook, and did the person in question buy travel insurance?

Rentals
 

poor business practice on everyone.

The Villages or property managment should put the money that the people pay to rent toward next year rental it’s only fair
The villages has gotten to big and greddy and doesn’t care about its owners or the people that rent there all resorts and big hotels have accommodated there renters and that is why people go back

We had a Canadian couple a couple of years ago who had a family emergency and we refunded their money in full. Getting the sales tax back was a bit of a hassle but after a couple of months, that was settled.

Poor business or a crapshoot? There are 13 million business and always another sucker.

I had a tenant from the NY area who did not want to leave at the end of April. I let them stay until they were ready to go home at my carrying cost only which was $45 a day. But this is why the majority of my tenants are repeat customers.

Have openings for August through December due to cancellations from folks from Europe who were concerned about the travel. Gave one a full refund and the other a reschedule to the following year which is what each wanted.

Just treat folks the way you would want to be treated if you were in their situation. Will you get cheated sometime? Probably, but you will also get rewarded many times over.

We had the same experience. Even though our signed agreement stated, no refunds, due to the current situation, the owner felt it was the right thing to do to return our money. I wasn’t expecting it but I will certainly rebook with them when the time is right. I’ll also refer them to others.

The Morse Syndicate doesn"t care. if they will not give a break on business closures due to covid why vacation rentals.