What do you do when your VRBO rental is a nightmare in Lake Geneva?
 

My DH and I travel extensively and like to rent apartments. We took a 3 month once in a lifetime trip to France and Italy and decided to end our extended trip in Lake Geneva Wisconsin where we used to own a second home in our to see friends and family before our drive cross country back to California. We had just been commenting how fortunate we were to have stayed in such great places on our trip when we got to the rental in Wisconsin. spoke to soon. We rented through VRBO and had to pay the rental upfront. When we arrived there was a keypad lock and the owner wasn't there as he lives in Chicago. The minute we opened the door we knew there was a problem. We were hit in the face cheap air freshener smell. The actual property looked very nice but as we unplugged the air fresheners we could tell there was a horrible mildew smell in the master bedroom and Living room. after much back and forth with the owner we ultimately cut short our stay because the mildew was affecting us physically with headaches and wheezing . It was very difficult to obtain a refund for the remainder of the stay and we ended up having to cancel most of our plans with friends and family.

Until this point I have had a postive experience with VRBO but this is a perfect example of how it can go wrong. Is there a way to protect oneself ffor a very expensive rental when owners insist on upfront payments? Curious to hear how others have handled similiar situations.

If it was actually uninhabitable (you'd need supporting evidence of some sort - not just your word) a credit card dispute might work.

Or . . If it was a lot of $$ and worth the effort of traveling to Chicago, small claims court.

But really, trip insurance -- w/ adequate evidence -- would have been your best bet.

kelbo, all this research needed to be done before you go into a vacation rental situation:

1. You need to check if the vacation rental is legal. This can require quite a bit of work: several e-mails/calls to municipalities, condominium and/or homeowner associations, perhaps BBB

2. You need to ascertain what protection you have under the law and what recourse you might have if something should go awry.

And you have to do this for EVERY single separate location where you are considering a vacation rental, because the ordinances and laws are different for different municipalities.

At this point, you can do the extensive research yourself and see what is available for you. This may be a little convoluted because you are a resident of California, the property is in Wisconsin and the owner of it is in Chicago. There are also attorneys which specialize in this type of law. You could check with your own personal attorney and see if he has any suggestions, but he may refer you to another.

You may not have the same protection with that vacation rental at that which you would have had with a hotel.

I'm also not sure that trip insurance would have been of any benefit, if the vacation rental was be determined to be illegal. Also, it may depend on what causes the property to be uninhabitable.

janisj, this may not be a Chicago matter. The property is located in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

With this situation, the only hope you'd have of avoiding it would be if you'd been able to read a review of the property mentioning the offending smells. I trust you will be posting such a review at VRBO to help future travelers.

Thanks everyone. The condo is legally registered with the state, I did check the reviews ( although there were only four, and looking back two of them look fake now). I have also posted a review on VRBO being very careful to follow their " guidelines" . We will see if it gets posted.

kelbo, I didn't want you to think I was being harsh with the above answer, but there is such a lot of prior research that needs to be done on vacation rentals if someone is thinking about this option. In fact, based on the answers one discovers, they might find it preferable to just go the hotel route.

I'm not sure what you mean by "condo legally registered with state"???

I'll give you an example of what I mean...In the City of Chicago, vacation rentals units of less than 30 days must be *licensed* with the City in order for them to be legal. The owners must have the proper insurance for such an enterprise, meet the public safety guidelines and fire codes, etc.

But, in addition to that, if it is located in a condo/townhome/homeowner's association, the bylaws might prohibit such usage. There have been instances of some associations taking legal action against them, shutting down this type of usage.

So, if this was in the City of Chicago, you would have to make certain that it is 1) licensed by the City of Chicago (meeting all their criteria) - the license number would have to be shown *for that specific, sole unit*; and 2) and such occupancy would have to be allowed by the condominium association.

Then you would need to see what legal consumer rights you have with these and what legal recourse. If you have little or none, compared with what you do with hotels, motels, B&Bs or inns, perhaps you may not wish to pursue this route at all.

What constitutes a legal vacation rental in Lake Geneva may be different. As I mentioned above, you have to check every municipality's ordinances/laws where you are considering this. AND if it is part of a condo, townhouse or homeowners association, you'd have to check on that as well. Two associations in the same municipality may have different bylaws, where one is silent on this and the other specifically prohibit such use.

You may also wish to check the BBB to see if they are listed and if were any complaints lodged against this particular owner.

Of course, then you can go on and check the location, amenities, reviews, etc.

You can see what type of legal wranglings are happening with Airbnb in NYC and SF - and they aren't the only ones involved with this matter, either.

Sorry, I meant to mention this as well:

With regard to trip insurance, you'd have to discuss the matter with a licensed insurance professional. The insurance contract would spell out the terms of when the coverage would apply and when it wouldn't.

<It was very difficult to obtain a refund for the remainder of the stay>

That implies you were able to get a refund. Yes?

If so, you are looking for advice on how to prevent future issues and deal with problem properties should you encounter them, correct?

The owner is in Chicago - the money was sent to Chicago - the best place to use small claims court would be in Chicago.- but unless it was a huge amount of money likely not worth the effort.

Ultimately we were able to leave the unit early and obtain a partial refund. This wasn't without alot of distress and unpleasantness dealing with the owner, It isn't worth my time or effort to take someone to small claims court as i would have to fly to Chicago, at my expense, and take off work. I use VRBO quite often and this is the first instance I have run into a serious problem. I am looking for ways to protect oneself in the future, as I do enjoy renting apartments and condos versus hotels. I guess the real question is , is there really a way to protect oneself with VRBO? It becomes a he said, she said scenario when it comes to " Smells" and odors. Once I suggested we get a mold specialist into the condo , he offered the partial refund and at that point I just wanted out and some of my money back. I see very very few negative reviews on VRBO and I believe they are screened somehow by the owner. This unit had nothing but 5 star reviews...although there were just a handful of them, but that isnt uncommon for the area. I wrote a very factual review and highlighted positives and negatives about the property. Itsbeen 48 hours and it hasnt shown up yet on VRBO.

no, of course there isn't. That's the risk you take by renting unseen properties from an individual on the internet. I'm astounded you got any refund just because you didn't like the smell.

I can't imagine trip insurance would cover a case where you decided you didn't like the smell in a place you rented. You would have to have some certificate from the health dept declaring it uninhabitable, I imagine.

http://www.vacationprotection.com/?a...ntal-Guarantee

Lots of fine print and I'm not sure something like this would even be covered.

Although this is a moot point for the OP, there are small claims court advisors who could be consulted in order to determine the correct place to file the first time.

And it might be a very good thing to do some research (sorry!) on any company offering the type of a policy such as the one mentioned above by Patty.

VRBO used to allow owners to decide which reviews to publish, but no longer. They can only add a rebuttal. In my experience, it takes about 4-5 days for a review to post.

I think it is just part of the deal, of the 30 or so VRBO rentals we have made one was not great, but not bad enough to warrant a refund. I like places with lots of reviews; the only bad experience we had only had a couple, but I really liked the location.

<It isn't worth my time or effort to take someone to small claims court as i would have to fly to Chicago, at my expense, and take off work.>

I once filed a suit in small claims court, and my opponent sent me the money he owed me as soon as he was notified of the suit--apparently, it wasn't worth HIS time to deal with my suit, so a win for me! You might consider filing even if you don't intend to show up...

I wish I had better advice to give, but I think the "payment in full in advance" part was the part where you lost.

Thinking that research means merely looking at photos online and reading reviews is a BIG mistake.

Anyone who does no more research than that is leaving themselves wide open for problems, IMHO.

Newbe, of all the houses and apartments and villas I have rented full payment is generally due a month ahead.

Every VRBO rental I have done has asked for payment 14 to 30 days in advance. So the downside is basically there is no protecting oneself except to read between the lines of reviews and hope that there are many of them. I had done my due diligence and checked with the BBB, made sure it was registered as a rental and had a contract. I spoke to the owner by phone before the rental as well. My reason for the post is the realization that you really cannot protect yourself with a VRBO rental , in any way shape or form IF there is an issue once you get to the unit. Once I asked the owner to hire a miod specialist to come in to assess the situation he quickly reversed course and offered a partial refund .At that point I cut my losses because I was leaving regardless.

jubilada and kelbo, I didn't mean that you, kelbo, should not have paid in full--my remark sounded harsh, I see in retrospect. I meant only that under that circumstance, which, as you both point out, is a common one, there is little to be done after the fact. I said it to underscore that this is a risk one takes when renting.

There is a big difference between a "rental" and "vacation rental", kelbo.

Different laws apply to them at many locations, including what rights a "renter" has.

Sorry, again, I didn't want that to seem brusque. The term "rental" might have meant it is licensed as a long-term rental. That's where you have to be careful.

Since Lake Geneva is a resort community, was this a part of a condo/townhouse/homeowner's association - or a gated community? A quick call to the pertinent management/association office could have provided more information, particularly to find out if it was operating legally - maybe even more.

Sorry, that "licensed as a long-term rental" should read "registered/licensed as only a long-term rental". I tried to correct this just before it posted.

There are many places where I rent that has no priests of designating a legal short term rental.
I guess if you like condos you have some recourse with the management or if the rental is managed professionally by a company they might respond to concerns.
But we don't like condos or gated communities we have done best dealing with individual owners, all in all.

jubilada, we are speaking of U.S. cities here, correct?

Christian Science Monitor; October 8, 2014; article by Gloria Goodall, concerning SF legalizing AirBnB. Read the very first sentence right under the title.

**You**, the consumer, have the responsibility to confirm if vacation rentals (as opposed to long-term rentals) are legal at each location where you consider use of their services. The laws (and contractual obligations in place) may be different at every single location.

I mentioned condo/townhouse/homeowner's associations because they are so prevalent in metropolitan and resort areas. Especially in more urban, upscale areas or resort communities.

And it is important for you, as a consumer, because if you are dealing with an owner operating who is operating illegally, doesn't that tell you a lot about the way they do business? Perhaps they aren't quite telling the truth about other things, such as the amenities, location of the property (especially prevalent in cities where some neighborhoods may be more iffy than others), etc.? And what you might possibly expect should something should go wrong?

The OP came here with the question on how they can protect themselves from a similar situation from occurring again. Although there is no way to completely protect yourself, one can try to mitigate the chances as much as possible.

Sorry, one other thing: If in doubt about if a vacation rental (of less than 30 days) is legal, call the municipality. Find out.

I just had the same experience, in Chicago, with a licensed rental (the license number is right on the VRBO listing). It was not a "nightmare" but was not the lavish luxurious estate (their words) it was purported to be. Twenty five-star reviews. I did lots of research and determined it was legit, as the owner seems to be well known there.

Upon arrival at 3 PM, the non-English speaking maids were still working, so we (7 ladies) left our luggage and returned 3 hours later. That's when we discovered there was a serious mold problem in three of the five bathrooms, including very strong odor, holes in the wall with tiles missing, and black mold behind the glass mosaic tile. The beds were described as four "fulls" but were really two rollaway twins and one twin trundle. We were not met at the property as promised. No icemaker in the fridge. There was no "media center" (which in the listing had lots of fabulous details). Well there was a receiver, a TV, and lots of remotes, but not one single item worked except the TV, which was a grey screen with the message "no cable". The climate system was inoperable - all six of the thermostats. It was very cold on the bottom (marble) floor. The two fireplaces (shown with stocked wood) were not stocked nor working, nor any instructions. It was in the 50's so we didn't freeze, there was sufficient bedding. Repeated phone calls and texts to the THREE managers, who were very good at corresponding ahead of time, all went unanswered, except for one which was "email Russ he loves emails". Two days later we got the internet password via a one line email.

We made the best of it, had lots of fun in Chicago, but this house was NOT what was promised. Upon returning home, I received a "note of appreciation" email thanking us. I responded with a detailed email to the three managers outlining our disappointment, and requested $1000 of our $3150 back (this was a four night rental, very expensive) in lieu of writing a review on VRBO. Surprise, no response. I'm giving it a full week, and intend to write a one or two star review.

I noticed yesterday that VRBO/Homeaway offers insurance now at additional cost, if "The property is significantly different than described in the advertisement". Not sure if "significantly different" covers either kelbo or my situation.

Here's the page from Homeaway:
http://www.vacationprotection.com/?a...ntal-Guarantee

Hi Joan,

Sorry about your experience...interestingly I wrote a review for a VRBO rental in France in the Port en Bessin area where we spent a week this past summer. It deserved a 5 star review which I gave it and I did make one suggestion in the review that would benefit both tenants and the owner .It was verified and posted within two days on the owners VRBO site.

I posted a very fair review of the property in Lake Geneva , being extremely careful to follow all guidelines outlined on VRBO, and the review has never been posted. It was factual and actually had positive comments about the kitchen, etc, but did refer to the issues we had in the master bedroom. This has really turned me off to using VRBO because I now think they only post 5 star reviews and somehow allow owners to review or not allow ones that aren't positive. This is such a disservice and unfair...but I will definitely think twice about using VRBO again.

>>I'm astounded you got any refund just because you didn't like the smell.>>

Christina, it wasn't that they didn't like the "smell" of the place, it was the place had mold and mildew and made them sick.

..."we ultimately cut short our stay because the mildew was affecting us physically with headaches and wheezing..."

<This has really turned me off to using VRBO because I now think they only post 5 star reviews and somehow allow owners to review or not allow ones that aren't positive. >

I would really like to determine if this is true, because if it is, I agree with you that it's a real disservice to users, and would make me not want to use VRBO, too.

That is not VRBO's policy and I see plenty of negative reviews on VRBO listings. My guess is that the owner is being given a chance to respond (and is dragging that out), the OP wrote an overly verbose review including a lot of extraneous info like in the first few sentences of this thread, or there is more to this story and VRBO is siding with the owner.

Here's an example of a listing with some really bad reviews:

http://www.vrbo.com/309380

kelbo, contact VRBO and find out what happened!

Amazingly, my homeowner agreed this week to refund my $1000 if I promised no one in our group would review the property. He also expressed appreciation for my "very detailed and helpful feedback" and plans to close the property for two months to fix the problems... We shall see. I responded with a promise and a fifteen day deadline for receipt of the check...

let us know what happens in your case, and thanks for posting. Your post gave me the impetus to follow up on my own situation.

Amazingly, my homeowner agreed this week to refund my $1000 if I promised no one in our group would review the property

You might want (for legal reasons)to rethink publicizing this stategy.

Christina, it wasn't that they didn't like the "smell" of the place, it was the place had mold and mildew and made them sick.>>

yeah, I know but a lot of people complain about stuff and exaggerate. They claim it made them sick, but did they have a doctor's certificate saying so?

Some people are highly allergic to mold, some are not. I am. The smell was overwhelming in the bedroom . Having headaches and wheezing , etc means there is a serious issue going on. We are not talking just a musty smell. keep in mind that the owner was playing hardball in the beginning, and once I suggested we contact a mold specialist to test the condo he back pedaled immediately. He knew there was a problem and covered it up with cheap air fresheners throughout the unit, because he wanted the rental income.

I'm glad at least this post helped one person. My original reason for the posting was to simply find out how other fodorites handle these issues and have them reconciled for them. Thanks everyone.

They claim it made them sick, but did they have a doctor's certificate saying so?

I don't need a doctor's excuse to know when a place is moldy or smoky (when promised non-smoking. It is not healthy on any level to be in a moldy area.