A friend of mine wanted some advice:

She wanted to ask you about having a confirmed week with II and they wouldn't allow me to buy guest certificate for it , because I was told that I am not supposed to rent my exchange week. My timeshare with Worldmark is floating and pointsbased and this is what I used to exchange. Now, how can I rent my confirmed week with II, if they wouldn't issue me a guest certificate? They blocked my account, which according to them I was violating their policy, which I had no idea about. I have not used my timeshare for few years and my points just sit there and expired, and still pay for it. I just want some money back. Do you have any advice on what should I do?

The best way to rent WorldMark points is to make them available "For Rent" before they are banked into or exchanged with Interval International. Once the points are with Interval their policy prohibits them from being rented.

However, I do know that it is still done. Simply, inform Interval that the party occupying/using you exchanged week is family or friend. Also, the II week can be booked at one of the resorts within their resort community and then this week is advertised "For Rent". Once a renter has been located, the resort is notified that this individual will be checking-in and a guest-pass is issued for the renter. There is no need to involve Interval once the exchanged points/week has been booked at a specific location/resort.

Renting-out Interval weeks prior to being booked at a specific resort, while not impossible, is more difficult than renting-out a week that has been booked at a specific resort.

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Yeah - just consider it an "unofficial sublet", and let none be the wiser for it, but do take responsibility for any potential damage or other screwups they might incur! I think that's probably a good policy anyways when renting timeshare blocks - off the record of course. I mean who cares? Who is going to be hurt by your doing that, by just saying that the rental party is a family member, and then just renting it under the table? If someone has some ethical point I am missing here, please stop and correct me. I just don't see what the big deal is - why there is so much red tape about this issue.

rambutan

The bottom line is once you bank your timeshare week it becomes the exchange companies property and you should follow the rules or bend them a bit. I once called RCI to inquire about renting my banked week and was told that I couldn't but the rep told me how to get around the no rental policy by using a guest certificate. This worked fine. They don't know who my quest are and didn't know of any exchange of funds. As far as damage goes, always use a timeshare rental agreement form which will protect both parties and clearly states who is responsible for damage and other things such as maid service fees.

Mocean, that sounds like a good way to handle it within the boundaries of the actual rules! I will definitely keep that in mind, not just if I own but also if I want to rent from others I know.

Larry, I would just sell the Worldmark timeshare and buy into a resort that deeds you a set week, but also allows you to Float/Flex your week if you want to. I know Westgate Resorts ownership is set up that way. Good Luck!!!

Is that a typically uncommon offering? Do you have experience with Westgate personally or do you have friends or family who do?