We rented a house through vacationrentals.com. Its like VRBO (vacation rentals by owner) where you rent directly from the owner. The lady who rented us the house will not send our deposit back. Every time we call her, she says she already mailed it and then when we don't get the money, we call again and she says she forgot. She misrepresented the house but that is the least of my problems right now. I am out $300 and am looking at a small claims court suit if we don't get it back. I filed a complaint with the website but they just forward the message to the owner. Big help. They don't tell you that when you are writing the complaint but they say once they get a complaint it usually works out in the renter's favor. We'll see. Suggestions anyone? Most of the posts I've seen regarding renting directly through the owner have been positive so I decided to try it. Never again.

Others may disagree, but since you have her phone number, I'd start calling each day. I'd be sweet and kind, but just say that since she forgot before, you thought you'd remind her this time. Then the next day call again to make sure she has sent it. And the next. I wouldn't make threats, but go out of my way to "kill her" with kindness. Meanwhile keep track of the calls and her comments.

Thanks Neopolitan. That's what we have been doing but not sure how long we can continue to do that. She won't like the complaint I wrote about her either.

What state was this in? In MA the law is that the deposit must be returned within 30 says. I'm not sure what happens then but here with 93A one can probably get triple damages. Perhaps you could check to see if anything like that applies in the state the rental is in.

Gomiki: California

Well, I don't know about CA. Do you know anyone in real estate who could answer that question? Perhaps a search on the state gov site could give some info. It would sure be helpful to mention the legal consequences to her if there are any.

Good idea gomiki. Thank you.

Hi beetkekat, owners of rentals in CA have 21 days to return a security depost in CA unless they can produce statements that show the rental property had damages that are above and beyond normal wear and tear, rent was not paid etc. But I honestly do not know if that applies to short term vacation rentals.

May I suggest that you Google what laws are applicable for short term vacation rental deposits. And I would also send a Certified Letter, Return Receipt Requested, to the owner of the propery. Do let us know how this works out for you.
Best regards.

Please let us know what happens. Good luck!

I like your screen name. Here we have a type of boat called a Beetle Cat. It's a 12' wooden sailboat. A lot of kids learn to sail using them in protected harbors. If you're not familiar with them you can google it and see some pix.

I would simply tell her - via registered mail - that if the money is not in your hands in 10 days you will file in small claims court. (I once had a problem with an ebay seller - why I will now use nothing but PayPal - and the written threat of small claims did the trick.)

Beetle,
One suggestion to keep it offical if you need to move forward with a small claims case or work with an state attor. general is to send the owner a certified letter stating past discussions and your complaints. Send a copy of this to the VRBO. Phone calls are to easy to blow off but a certified letter will let the owner know your serious.
Best of luck!

How about threatening to tell everyone you can, for example, everyone here?

Normally in CA Small Claims Court you must file in the county where the defendant lives or does business. Do you live near where the owner of the property lives or where the rental you rented is located beetlekat? If not, do research this but it probably wouldn't be worth your time and effort if you do not live in the general same area. Which is probably exactly what the owner of this rental property is relying on.

Please do tell which location it was. I have been searching this site as well as other sites and would appreciate knowing which house might be not as it seems (abbreveated?). Thanks!

If you have a friend who is a lawyer, you can ask him/her to send the certified letter on their firm's letterhead. Might help...

beetlekat, what did she say yesterday when you called her? And again today?

i rented through vrbo this summer for the first time. i must admit that it was very unnerving to send a cheque off to some stranger that you hoped was "real" and that when i showed up, there would actually be a property there. thankfully, it worked out very well for us. i agree that you need to do the kindness route first but then, i would remind them that there is this forum, lonley planet and many, many others that you will post messages at advising people NOT to rent from their property. good luck and keep us posted.

Thanks everyone for all of your suggestions. Its actually my 81 year old mother's deposit. We rented the house for a family long weekend. We had just lost my dad in June and thought it might be good for my mom to get together in the desert like we used to as a family.

The house is in La Quinta, California. It is #12266 on Vacationrentals.com. The house was really beautiful however there was no butane for the bbq, (we had to buy it and used it only once), only 2 lounge chairs, pool was not clean and was too warm. There was no hose so we had to borrow one from a neighbor to cool off the pool (this was in August so it was really hot down there). We called her the second day we were there and left a message asking for instructions on how to use the pool and she finally called us back in the evening to explain. My family had gone down to the house on Friday morning and my husband and I went on Friday night. The owner called me at work on Fri morning and wanted to know when they were arriving so she could explain how to use the pool/jacuzzi as it was "very complicated." She said she would be there until noon. I think my family got there around 11 and she was gone without leaving any written instructions on how to use the pool.

There is no place on the website to post comments about this house so I will warn all of you here. Its a nice house but just a few things were inconvenient such as no butane, too few lounge chairs and of course the big problem--she won't send our deposit back!!

The owner also keeps insisting she left an extra key on the counter (which we never saw) and she wants it back. We've told her each time she brings it up to please deduct the cost of making another key from our deposit but she won't send the deposit back!

I meant to explain that she lives in the same county as I do so I would serve her with small claims court papers at her residence if necessary. Hopefully it won't be.

here's a link:

http://vacationrentals.com/vacation-rentals/12266.html

beetlekat, Have you been calling her daily? Mayne all of Fodorites should give her a ring?