Nothingrhymeswith J.

Home Away, INC, Homeaway.com and VRBO.com are websites that advertise 'Vacation Rentals' which are really just homes, condo's, etc... that are individually owned and rented out for short periods of time to vacationers.

We actually have a 'vacation rental' next door to us, in a neighborhood of $500,000 to $1M homes. It is against the CC&R for this neighborhood, and against city laws that regulate against transient, short term rentals.

We now live next door to a what has become a hotel, with groups of 20-25 people at a time rotating every couple of days.

HomeAway does NOTHING when being told of the disturbances and violations. They do NOTHING to warn renters about the situation they will be walking into when they rent an illegal vacation rental. We have seen group after group have the police called on them, get yelled at by angry neighbors, stared down and treated like the enemy. VRBO does NOTHING to protect these renters from what will end up being a bad experience for them.

Why can't Homeway simply decide to be decent and take an active roll in getting rid of the rental properties that are causing problems in the communities, and violate laws? It's such an obvious, right, thing to do. But, instead, Brian Sharples has been quoted saying that they cannot know every law in every city. No, Brian, you dufus, you can't. But you CAN have a group of people who looks into situations brought to your attention and handle it with class and ethics. Go figure.

I think that any vacationer who rents a house in the middle of a neighborhood and brings in 20-25 people in 'LOUD. I'm on VACATION' mode is asking for trouble. They get what's coming to them, in my opinion. I feel sorry for the renters who rent in my neighborhood. They go home crying and their kids witness the WHOLE, SAD mess of a vacation.

HomeAway is destined to FAIL if they don't change.

BE WARE of 'rentals' privately owned in neighborhoods. They often do not meet firecodes, pay taxes, adhere to America Disibilties Act regulations, adhere to CC&R's for the area, adhere to local laws... And YOUR vacation will be ruined because of it. Good luck getting a refund! Once that money is out of your hands, you will have to FIGHT to get it back, regardless of the situation that you were subjected to. You can thank the greedy money grabbers at VRBO for not giving you the headsup.

Think the 'reviews' you read on the rentals are accurate? Think again. Any negative comments about the rentals are BLOCKED by the property owner. Do your homework-- or better yet, rent a LEGITIMATE hotel room