For years the DVC Public Offering Statement has included vague prohibitions of "commercial" renting of DVC points without truly defining what constitues commercial activity. It now appears that DVC has taken steps to define commercial point renting, as well as sanctions against members who violate those rules.
According to DVC member and DISBoards poster "DVC Mike", the Public Offering Statement was amended back on December 31, 2007 to clarify what constitutes commercial renting of DVC points. The POS amendment is as follows:
Commercial Use Policy. The Disney Vacation Club (DVC) Public Offering Statement makes it clear that DVC memberships are intended for personal vacation use. The Declaration of Condominium and the Membership Agreement for the Resort expressly limits the use of Ownership Interests to personal use and prohibits use for “commercial purposes,” – a pattern of rental activity or other occupancy by an Owner that the Board of the Association, in its reasonable discretion, could conclude constitutes a commercial enterprise or activity.
DVC Members may make as many reservations as they desire. However, if, in any 12-month period, a DVC Member desires to make more than 20 reservations, the DVC Member shall be required to establish, to the satisfaction of the Board, that all of the reservations made by the DVC Member in such 12-month period are for the use of accommodations by the DVC Member, the DVC Member’s family and/or the DVC Member’s friends (collectively, “Personal Use”), and not for commercial purposes. If, in any 12-month period in which a DVC Member attempts to make more than 20 reservations but is unable to establish, to the satisfaction of the Board, that all such reservations are for Personal Use and not for commercial purposes, all reservations in excess of the first 20 reservations shall be presumed to be the use of Vacation Accommodations for commercial purposes in violation of the Declaration and the Membership Agreement (the “Multiple Reservation Rule”).
Enforcement of this policy will be the responsibility of DVC Member Services as follows. For each reservation made by a DVC Member, Member Services shall determine, before confirming the reservation, the number of reservations made by such DVC Member which are occurring or have occurred in any rolling twelve-month period in which the reservation then being made will occur. If, as a result of Member Services’ review of the DVC Member’s reservation history, the reservation the DVC Member is then attempting to make violates the Multiple Reservation Rule and the DVC Member has not established, or cannot then establish that all of the DVC Member’s reservations, including the reservation then being made by the DVC Member, are for Personal Use, DVC Member Services will not honor or confirm the reservation and the DVC Member shall be advised that the reservation violates the Multiple Reservation Rule and the prohibition on use of Vacation Homes for commercial purposes. For reservations canceled for violating this policy, the cancellation shall be deemed to be a cancellation by the DVC Member and the provisions of the Home Resort Rules and Regulations relating to cancellations (including, without limitation, Sections 5(d), 13 and 14) shall apply.
The Association shall have the sole discretion to interpret this policy. Further, pursuant to the DVC Property Management Agreement and the DVC Membership Agreement for the Resort, the Association delegates the authority to interpret and enforce (through the Home Resort Reservation Component and the Home Resort Rules and Regulations) the policy to DVCMC as property manager for the resort.
This policy is not intended, and shall not be deemed, either (i) to constitute an exclusive act or statement by the Association regarding any breach of the commercial activity prohibitions set forth in the Declaration of Condominium and Membership Agreement, or (ii) to be an exhaustive list of all activities that shall be deemed to be commercial activity. Accordingly, the Association reserves the right to promulgate such additional rules or to take such additional actions or measures as it deems appropriate with respect to any breach of such prohibitions.
This use of 20 reservations in a 12-month period as a benchmark for commercial renting is nothing new. Back in the fall of 2006 DVC sent letters to members with similar reservation patterns also threatening to cancel bookings if they were deemed to have violated the personal use clause of the Vacation Club rules.
To date there are no publicly-known cases of DVC reservations being cancelled as violations of the commercial renting policy.
Click here to read Mike's post and to discuss this development on the DISBoards.
