We rented thru villages4rent also 5 different properties and never had a problem...

Im familiar with the county process of checking.. If you would send the info on the rental, name address etc i will check it out for you.. Send to Ken at kens613@gmail.com..

Have you tried Airbnb?
 

I rent a room in my home through Airbnb, one of the things I like about using them is each guest comes with insurance that Airbnb supplies me. I am sure as a renter you would get the same insurance. There are SOOOOOOO many scams out there today that it doesn't hurt to be cautious.

Check out villagers4rent.com, scroll down to Help & Information, click on verify ownership. that will allow you to access the county ownership records (search by last name only). Most of the homes here at this point are in Sumter county. Always good to check.

Resident ID
 

One of the most important things, verify that the rental property is absolutely going to include village resident IDs. You might hv to pay $50 for them but without them you will be very upset. We agreed on a three month rental, getting ready to send the check and asked about the IDs. Owner said they are not giving up their IDs for this property but don’t worry we will have guest passes.... no thanks... no free ex golf and many other things

Risk of renting
 

DO NOT SEND YOUR MONEY. At least not more than you are willing to lose. It happed to me. Sent $3000 for two months. My Father ended up having to have surgery. My house closing was delayed because of the buyer so we were not able to come to Florida during the rental time. There was no contract per se, that said no return of money in the event of unforeseen circumstances. Emailed several times with the owner Charlie, and asked for half the money. I was willing to compromise. He was in agreement and said he would speak with is wife. The one evidently who wears the pants and holds the purse strings and I guess other things of Charlie’s. Never heard back from him. Went to a lawyer and had Police trying to chase them down between NY and FL but they were slick and managed to evade the Police and I was never refunded a single penny. Oh, they went and stayed at the house also during the months that I had rented. So whatever you do DO NOT rent from Charlie and Barbara Brewer in the village of Calumet Grove

Don't do it!!!! Find a way to verify that the individual is legitimate before you send any money. I have personal knowledge of a case here in The Villages......where an acquaintance up north sent money supposedly to a Villages home owner who was advertising his home for rent....only to find out that it was a scam. He lost several thousand dollars. And the scammer had pulled the scheme on several people at the same time....for the same "home."

Airbnb is a great way to save $ and rent for shorter periods of time. A resident of Marsh Bend, (new area south of 44) has an airbnb in which she hosts. So you rent by the room or rooms, and it includes full service breakfast. It is more like an bed and breakfast though, but it looks beautiful and the house is gorgeous. Host name is Rhonda. Ps for a king room, only $69.00 per night.

I would use a property manager..I use JV property.. they rent my villa and I trust them..am from STL

I must disagree about Villages Hometown Property Management. I have rented twice with them while buying and getting work done on my new home. They let me extend my stay during the early months of COVID and the properties were in excellent shape and well appointed. I made one call about a noisy ceiling fan and they were there within the hour. I accidentally met the actual owner when he came to mow; a very nice Villager who left everything up to the management company except he was picky about the lawn and wanted to do that himself. I would not hesitate to recommend renting through them again. And yep, got my deposit back.

Beware of Craigslist home rentals
 

Though I have in the past and still do currently bought and sold on Craigslist multiple times, in 2019 I was all set to rent a house in the Villages from a listing on Craigslist. I had the same fears as you. I set out to find out everything I could about the owners. I found the tax records, in turn, where they lived, and where they worked. I contacted the owners at their work. I had not been negotiating with the owners. BEWARE, do your research.

Rented from Down Home Properties twice and they are excellent

And you aren’t “allowed” to run a business out of your home according to TV “rules”, but many do

Checking Ownership
 

Go to the appropriate County's web site and do a property search to verify if the supposed owner really holds title to the property. That's what we did when we rented direct from owners before eventually buying here.

Here's one that happened in 2018. We were lucky we got our $900 deposit back.

for some reason the link will not work. Just do a search for Jackie Hamilton O'Neil at the Villages dash news dot com



"Villager who ripped off snowbird renters pays $42,000 in restitution " Do a search for that headline.

Very true. I use Homefinders.com twice for 2 different houses. The first one was ok. It was basicly clean but vabinets were cluttered with rag tag pots n dishes. Used rolls of toilet tissue and paler towels were left from the previous rented, the house had a musty smell and the owner lived out of state. A neighbor was supposed to be available for any issues. The second one I rented and is now the ONLY one I will rent was spotless with all welcoming touches. It smelled freshly cleaned. New rolls of paper products were available. Sample toiletries of everything possible were there and the kitchen was well organized. The owners lived around the corner and welcomed me when I arrived, were always available for any issues of which I had none. The place was better than the pictures and I now deal directly with the owners when I rent.

I wouldn't do it. Use a Realtor/Rental Agency or rent from someone you know, otherwise it's a lot of money to get scammed out of. It happens all of the time. Also, if you, for some reason ended up not going, will you get your money back? I rented from an individual I met while in The Villages. I met her husband and was able to go through the condo before committing. We signed a Lease, agreed on all of the terms and gave a refundable deposit to them. Paid in full prior to the actual rental dates, but because of COVID-19, decided to hold off. We received our full deposit and all of the money we gave them. Be careful, is all I'm saying.

Be careful with AirBNB. Rented a home (not in the Villages) through them for a vacation in Clearwater 6 months before the vacation. Owner sold the property and no one ever contacted us. We found out two days before. There was a full refund but didn’t help since nothing else in the area was available on short notice!

Renting inTV
 

Lots of good details on this thread but, having been a landlord here for about 10 years, here are a couple more:
We advertise on villagershomes4rent.com. They did confirm thru their own research that we owned the home before they posted our ad. A good practice.
Our rental home happens to be in Sumter County so, if you go onto sumtertaxcollector.com you can put in the address and it replies with who the owner is (and when the taxes were paid).
I use a lease and I would not suggest anyone rent without one. Not only for the renters protection, but to protect the landlord's asset as well. My lease is provided before any money changes hands. It has the property address and also my home address (which is in the Villages also and can be confirmed the same way). It spells out the arrangement, when funds are due, check in, check out, etc.
I realize the rents here, especially high season for multiple months, can be a large check and concerning for many.
I believe in providing everything a tenant should need for a wonderful stay and take pride in repeat renters. But everyone's comfort level is different. I can only do so much and then both my renter and myself have to trust one another. I've had a lot of wonderful tenants over the years, many of whom are friends to this day.
Good luck with your rental decision!

First Time Renting In The Villages
 

I have worked in TV and helped renters get their proper renter's ID etc. for many years. I no longer work for TV; I am now fully retired so I don't have any skin in the game.

Most, but not all, private renters and third party rental management companies are okay or good, however for a first time rental I'd recommend you pay a little extra and rent through TV Hometown Property Management company.

Once you have been here and understand the importance of things, like the Renter's ID vs a Visitor ID, what does fully furnished mean, you'll be in a position to better evaluate a private renters offer. I have heard many horror stories, but most folks who rent their homes or property are good ethical people.

Enjoy your time in The Villages.

I am one of those “strangers” that rents properties to visitors to The Villages. I am honest, responsible, and trustworthy. I ONLY rent through professional short and long term rental sites (like Vacation Rental By Owner and VillagesHomes4rent) but how would you know to trust me? Well, to start with, I have a track record, dozens of 5 star reviews from previous renters. Those reviews frequently extoll the virtues of the house and say something like “exactly as advertised”. This puts my guests at ease.

That said, I have friends who rent on Craigslist, and they are honorable, but I have also seen MY OWN HOUSE advertised on Craigslist(!), clearly a scam. So bottom line, check references. If you have doubts, talk to the owner. Make sure you know where your money is going, using a trusted intermediary if you can’t personally verify who you are dealing with.

Also use the property tax records to see who lives at the house you send the check too. If the house is not in the villages I would be a little more concerned at this time of the year.
You could look up the neighbors and send then a letter asking if they know of any problems. Get their name and address in the property records.

Thank you for all the suggestions and the PMs with additional suggestions and offers to help. I feel like I have done all the research I can reasonably do from 1000 miles away. I will check in with this thread in a few weeks and let everyone know if I made the correct decision.

It is safer to go through a real estate company to rent a home.

We used VH4R as a renter also. Great experience. Had peace of mind knowing the rental was legit as well as having someone we could contact locally if there were any issues (we did initially have a technical issue with the washer). Also when going with the owner direct, find out who does the cleaning? A professional company or the owner (who may not have the same standards).