It’s been brewing for weeks already, but it seems the disaster in Orlando is growing by the minute. Thousands of Jewish families have been renting homes in Orlando for this Pesach, all looking forward to a relaxing and an enjoyable Yom Tov. But for many, it turned out to be a nightmare. According to multiple sources, more than 200 homes were “double booked”, many without the original renters knowing about it until the last minute. It seems there were a few ways that people lost their rentals. It began months ago, as thousands began placing deposits on homes for Pesach. Some homes were being rented for $6,000, and when brokers saw that there was a massive demand for homes, they began renting them to others – some for as much as $25,000. The problem is, some brokers never even told the original renters anything. Some brokers simply lied and said that their credit cards had been declined. This was a blatant lie, and in fact many had been charged, but the brokers had simply “refunded” the money, and taken their next customer who was paying three times the price. Other renters were told the home couldn’t be rented “due to COVID”, “burst pipe”, “roof leaks”, “air conditioning issues”, and other creative lies. One victim told YWN they booked their home a few days after Chanukah, and found out 5 days ago that they had lost their rental. YWN is aware of two families that were cancelled on Tuesday morning, and another on Monday night. The second – and even more disturbing scam – was that people began placing “down-payments” on many homes, showing intent to purchase them, with the condition that they can use it for Pesach. These people have no intent on buying these home, and many are cancelling their “contracts” after Pesach. Their down-payments are less then the amount they would of had to pay to rent a home for Pesach. In fact, YWN has been told that some “brokers” themselves went into contract on many homes to they could rent the homes for a profit. It appears that these “down payments” were done by brokers themselves. The results of these scams? Hundreds of families finding out a week before Pesach that they have no where to go. One family had already shipped their food on Monday and were flying on Tuesday evening only to find out on Tuesday morning that their home had been cancelled. YWN is told that lawyers are being hired and the authorities are already looking into this. If you have been a victim of a double-booking this Pesach in Orlando or any other location in Florida, please click here to contact YWN.  REAL STORY SENT TO YWN: “We booked 6132 Broad Oak Drive in Solterra on Jan 6 through vrbo. End of February it got canceled, saying that that owner “didn’t want to rent it”. A few days later KosherVillasOrlando.com rented it to someone else.” REAL STORY SENT TO YWN: “We rented in December a house and paid in full and then in February got an email that we are being fully refunded. The house was off all websites so it’s not like someone by mistake was able to book it. Airbnb claimed that the owner wants it themselves for that week. 7654 […]

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