Before booking a villa - please read

[Queen of Herts]

Over this weekend I have been desperately trying to help a lady who is about to lose her holiday. She has paid for 3 weeks in a villa which is heading towards foreclosure and the owner hasnt paid HOA fees for a long time. I do not know the owner of the villa and it is NOT a Dibb villa.


I have been given the details of the two sites below, both supply public information where you can check out who you are renting from.

I have been told about this site today, it is not completely foolproof but you can check if a homeowner you are booking with has any unpaid debts or is heading towards foreclosure if they have a US mortgage. You will need their first and last names. Take a look at osceolaclerk and on the left side pick 'Civil Division' and then you can do your search.

To check that a person actually owns the home they are renting to you go to osceola.county-taxes do a 'Tax Search'.

Tell the person you are renting from you are doing this and ask for the name the house will be listed under If your homeowner is honest they will be more than happy to supply this information to you.

Make sure you have a landline number and a full address from the person you are renting from. A mobile is not good enough. Give them a call a couple of times to discuss your holiday and to also check your calls are either answered or promptly returned.

See all the terms and conditions before agreeing to rent. Find out what the owner's commitment to you is. By this I mean the basics like a clean home and clean, usable pool. Clean carpets etc.

Rental License.
The license confirms that the villa is registered for short term rentals and meets all the criteria set for such properties. Some are licensed as part of a collective license covering all of the properties managed by a particular MC.
Check Rental License here : myfloridalicense/wl11.asp

Any chance this could be displayed at the top of rental section and kept there for future?