Chaperones and beach rentals

[DBOldford]

I think the answer on this issue is for owners to make it very clear to their management companies that they will not rent to groups of underage kids without at least one set of parents of those kids on the property at all times. Two sets of parents for a group of a dozen or more makes more sense. A big part of the problem is renting over the Internet, a practice that is much more prevalent than in the past. There is no way for the rental company to necessarily know who is reserving the house, and a check comes in as deposit without anyone actually talking with those renting. Then a so-called "chaperone" comes in to pick up the keys or keys are left for a late check-in. We now require that there be some credible communication between the management company and the renters between the time of their reservation and their stay. In addition, I reserve the right to call the house at any reasonable hour and ask to speak with the parent in charge. I really hate doing this, frankly, but someone has to ask these questions. And check your management agreement language, because ours was slightly reworded to allow a "guardian," which was somehow translated as "chaperone." Not even close to a legal equivalent. We have made it clear that this should not happen again.

In the future, we will watch last minute reservations very carefully, too. Our families tend to roll their deposits over from one summer to the next or at least book months in advance. When we have an open week and it fills at the last minute, this is a sign of a rather impromptu gathering. Such groups are typically not planning very far in advance. Particularly the case with spring break groups. Good luck, owners and stay involved!

 

[newyorker]

I can't help but weigh in on this thread--I'm an academic dean at a "highly selective" liberal arts college in upstate NY NE (and I come down to SoWal to escape from "new yawkers" and esp obnoxious college students). The problems of the students you have renting are also ones my college and many others face--students who pay our admittedly skyhigh tuition/board rates feel "entitled" to party ("study hard/play hard")--and it is not unusual to have to ship drunk kids to the emergency ward on weekends. But their parents are not upset--and in fact, we have 1st year students whose parents cart in the liquor as they are coming for orientation! Thus, I'm not surprised at the expectation that renting at the beach should be a place to be particularly "party-hardy".
I do have a few suggestions not already made: for groups: why not ask for the name and age of every person staying at your house? (contracts I've signed haven't asked for that--I'm happy to do this for my family). Why not ask that each person in a group sign something affirming they've read your rules? (we demand this for our students going on terms abroad--at least then, we can legally note they've read the rules) I would second the idea of a very large deposit for large houses.
I love being a dean, and most of the students I deal with are wonderful, smart kids. But there is a sizeable minority who feel that it is their right to party (and trash our campus--we had $800K worth of damage this year--and our campus has only 2100 students). But I love Seagrove Beach, and I don't want to vacation next to this group either.

 

[Beach Runner]

This is sort of tangential, but since we're on the subject of college kids misbehaving, here is a great link regarding college students and drinking. It was sent to me by a friend who is a dean and is on pins and needles every weekend, hoping that some student enrolled at her college doesn't do something stupid.

http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/reports/Parents/default.aspx