The summer travel season is upon us and we are getting ready for our summer vacations. Across the world, people will be renting out vacation homes, and setting themselves up for a costly situation. For those that are not aware of the pitfalls that renting a vacation home can bring, here is a preparation checklist of all the ways that you need to protect your rights as a renter:
The most common problem that develops when renting a vacation home is that things are broken, or otherwise damaged and there is no information as to how to deal with these situations. Sometimes when this happens, the renter is charged extremely high fees and replacement costs on items that are generally not that expensive. As such, you need to read the fine print in the lease that you sign, and make certain that everything is clear about replacement costs, and who foots the bill for what.
Another common problem is that the renter is accused of breaking or damaging things that were already broken, or on the verge of being broken. That said, you should do a thorough walk through of the premises with the people involved before ever taking possession of the vacation home. Write down all damages, however small and have the landlord sign off on them. If a landlord is not willing to do so, then you need to move on to a different vacation rental for the summer.
Everyday type maintenance such as lawn care, pool care, and so on is often left to the renter to take care of. If this is the case with your rental property, then it is a good idea to know that when you figure on the cost and expense of renting the vacation home. Make sure all of these things are clearly defined in the lease.
One last major problem is insurance when you are renting a summer home. The landlord carries homeowners insurance that covers his property from crime and weather damage. This policy often will not cover your own property so it is a good idea to get a rider to your existing homeowner policy for your rental property. These are generally not that expensive, so you should not have any trouble getting the policy in place.
These are the major problems that you run into when you rent a summer vacation home. The primary way to avoid these problems is having a well defined, and clear lease that makes all situations very transparent. If you are unable to feel comfortable with the terms of your lease, then that is a good sign that you should be moving on to something different for your summer of fun.
