Advice needed

[Suzy]

Hope someone reading this can help, we are currently staying on Anna Maria Island on the Gulf Coast, my daughter and family had booked a house with swimming pool & boat dock, on arrival the house was dirty and totally unsuitable for small children, no locks on doors and two year old could get down to pool etc., however the main worry was that the banister had a gap that the toddler could crawl through with a 4ft drop on the other side.

Needless to say they immediately went straight back to the management company and complained, they were told it was nothing to do with them as they had booked direct with the owner (they were unaware of this) in the end they managed to contact the owner and he offered them £500 off the price of the rental.

They have now booked into another house at considerable cost, what we would like to know is are there some rules and regulations that people renting out places have to comply with? They had ordered a cot so whoever had handled the booking new that small children would be there.

Any thoughts and helpful advice would be appreciated

Sue

[christhear]

Suzy, it may be worth looking at the website you booked through to see if they gauranetee that houses are of a certain standard. I am hoping that the house was not booked through this site.

[Clare R]

Anna Maria Island is in Manatee County and one would hope that the owner of the property is fully licensed by the County to be a rental property. If it is fully licensed I am surprised they have found the situation as you describe.

I would suggest a contact to http://www.mymanatee.org explaining the situation and I am sure they will direct you to the correct department.

[Suzy]

Thanks for your replies, we are going over in a few minutes before they hand the keys back and we will be taking some pictures as evidence. I have only listed a few problems here there are many more including no towels! Carpets matted with dirt and bathrooms dirty etc.,

We will be getting in touch with Manatee County as advised, thanks for your replies.

Sue

[Suzy]

Hi there - Louise here, Suzys daughter. I have called manatee county but they told me that they issue no such license, but not sure if the lady I spoke to understood what I was asking.

Does anyone know if there are terms and conditions that a property has to adhere to in order for it to be suitable for rental?

The property had not been cleaned, there were dirty sheets on the beds with hairs in, dirty plates in the dishwasher, the stairs were a trip hazard and the stair balastrade at the top was so wide that our 8 month old could easily crawl through to a 4ft drop onto a tiled floor. These are just a few points and we have never complained about anywhere before, but the house was disgusting!!

Surely this isn't allowed. I would really appreciate your advice as the owner is refusing to refund us our money even though we didn't sleep in the property and left soon after we got the keys.

I would really appreciate some advice
Louisex

[florida4sun]

I do not know anyone on here who is familiar with Manatee County and its rental procedures. I would ask for the information from the management company. They will be governed by a license, it should be hanging ion their office, ask to see a copy of it and that will tell you the issuing authority. You will of course need evidence so make sure you have photos. Did you pay by credit card? If so dispute the payment but again you will need evidence.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Suzy
Hi there - Louise here, Suzys daughter. I have called manatee county but they told me that they issue no such license, but not sure if the lady I spoke to understood what I was asking.

Does anyone know if there are terms and conditions that a property has to adhere to in order for it to be suitable for rental?

The property had not been cleaned, there were dirty sheets on the beds with hairs in, dirty plates in the dishwasher, the stairs were a trip hazard and the stair balastrade at the top was so wide that our 8 month old could easily crawl through to a 4ft drop onto a tiled floor. These are just a few points and we have never complained about anywhere before, but the house was disgusting!!

Surely this isn't allowed. I would really appreciate your advice as the owner is refusing to refund us our money even though we didn't sleep in the property and left soon after we got the keys.

I would really appreciate some advice
Louisex
[/quote]

[Andrena]

The Hotel & Licences Division of Florida should be able to help. Also the home should have a licence displayed surely and this should give you the information of who to contact on it. Have you asked the owner if they have a licence? It is illegal to rent without one and this probably would mean that they are not paying the relevant taxes on their rental income.

I have looked at the Licensing Department under Division of Hotels and Restaurants and there is a telephone number in Tallahassee - 850 487 1395. Call them and ask for the telephone number of the office in Fort Myers which looks after District 7 - Manatee County. They will be able to check if the home is licensed and if not they will investigate. All home which are legally licensed should be inspected before they get their licence and they would not be allowed to have anything which could prove dangerous. The owner can be fined for not having a licence. Hope this helps.
I hope that you did not book from Orlando Villas and if you did then you should inform Roger and he can look into it perhaps.

Andrena

[Suzy]

Hello again, thanks for all your advice especially Andrena we will be contacting them soon. The house was not booked through this site, we have photographs etc and we are just trying to gather all information and decide what is the best way to procede.

Suzy

[Suzy]

Hi just like to say thanks to you Anndrena, the phone numbers were really useful, we're back home tomorrow will try & put some photo's on here then, they really are awful.

Hopefully they may get a full refund -once he sees the pictures

Sue

[Parrothead]

Hi Sue,
sorry to hear about this. If I was you, I would name and shame the house and owners on this forum!!
As far as I am aware every house that has a pool and is rented out HAS to have a pool alarm and safety screen fitted at all times if children are involved.