Emerald Sun Beach Rentals Closing

It breaks my heart that this situation has forced them to close their doors.

Missing paradise,

MarMarGal

What do you mean by "this situation"?

There has been a lot of discussion about rental companies on this forum. I look forward to seeing what the latest is.

Please make sure to contact the companies that help support SoWal.com
http://sowal.com/rentalagencies.html

How big was Emerald Sun?

Oh, my! I rented our house for this next summer through Emerald Sun. I would have expected an email message or letter from the company about tis and the status of my rental. It's off to the phone I go!

What do you mean by "this situation"?

There has been a lot of discussion about rental companies on this forum. I look forward to seeing what the latest is.

Please make sure to contact the companies that help support SoWal.com
http://sowal.com/rentalagencies.html

Emerald Sun definitely has shut down, as of Friday.

This is what they have been telling owners: the closure was forced by lower-than-anticipated earnings this past summer, plus difficulties getting small business credit for the offseason.

Things are in flux for renters who have made a reservation. Those who have made deposits to Emerald Sun might try to contact the owners of the house they will be staying in. Some owners might have already signed on with new rental management companies who will be able to honor those outstanding rentals. It varies on a case by case basis, that is for sure. Also this just happened last week so many owners have not found new companies yet.

Keep in mind that the owners have not been paid for any upcoming rentals. Also many homeowners are still owed money.

It's a shame because I always liked dealing with them and felt like they did a good job for us overall. I am sorry to see them go.

Emerald Sun

I recently booked with Emerald Sun for a week after Xmas and for the very first time in my life, a two week vacation, beginning in June. I thought something was wrong this weekend. Emailed one of the employees and got a not deliverable return. I made a deposit of 1/2 for the Xmas week and 1/4 for the two weeks in June.
I hope I can get my money back. I hope they don't take any more since they have my credit card on record.
I'll try the homeowners, then my credit card.
I don't think I will book now. We will probably drive down and find somewhere when we get there.
Family was going to join us. Children, grandchildren.

I recently booked with Emerald Sun for a week after Xmas and for the very first time in my life, a two week vacation, beginning in June. I thought something was wrong this weekend. Emailed one of the employees and got a not deliverable return. I made a deposit of 1/2 for the Xmas week and 1/4 for the two weeks in June.
I hope I can get my money back. I hope they don't take any more since they have my credit card on record.
I'll try the homeowners, then my credit card.
I don't think I will book now. We will probably drive down and find somewhere when we get there.
Family was going to join us. Children, grandchildren.

Aren't you covered by your CC company?

I recently booked with Emerald Sun for a week after Xmas and for the very first time in my life, a two week vacation, beginning in June. I thought something was wrong this weekend. Emailed one of the employees and got a not deliverable return. I made a deposit of 1/2 for the Xmas week and 1/4 for the two weeks in June.
I hope I can get my money back. I hope they don't take any more since they have my credit card on record.
I'll try the homeowners, then my credit card.
I don't think I will book now. We will probably drive down and find somewhere when we get there.
Family was going to join us. Children, grandchildren.

If you paid by credit card, you are probably in luck! I would contact the credit card company right away. I think it would be much easier and faster to get money back that way.

Thanks for the advise. I contacted the owners of the house and will now contact the credit card folks...

Wouldn't they get in trouble w/ the law if they don't give the deposits back? :idontno:

Wouldn't they get in trouble w/ the law if they don't give the deposits back? :idontno:

Not if they are filing bankruptcy. It also depends on how the deposit was actually defined. If it was a prepayment then it doesn't have to be held like a deposit. It's not uncommon for a rental company to require a prepayment. This gives them operating cash during the off season.

While this is kind of a sudden surprise it wouldn't surprise me if additional companies close. If not this year definitely next.

The lovely owners of my selected spot are going to contact me when details are complete with their next managment company.
I hope that others will have similar results soon. I wasn't feeling too sorry for myself. Just alittle pitiful but I knew I could head south and find somewhere to stay. But the money made me feel bad because you don't know when the crisis will be over and what other monies people might lose.
Everyone at Emerald Sun was very nice to deal with it. I hope they can find something else soon. They know when I will be staying at my spot so if you are reading this board, please stop by and at least have a drink and tell us how you are doing.

I have emailed the owners of the house I had rented, but have not heard back as of yet. I also called my CC company. I will have to dispute the charges. I made this reservation quite some time ago, so I hope I things will work out. Also, thanks to MarMarGal for posting this because I would never have known of the closing.

In my previous post, I said I had emailed the owners of the house....well it turned out to be a representative of Emerald Sun so I don't expect to get a return email.
After some "googling" I found that the owner of the house I have rented through the Walton County Tax Appraisal District website. Just type in the home's address. I'll now track their phone number and give them a call. Hope this helps.

I have emailed the owners of the house I had rented, but have not heard back as of yet. I also called my CC company. I will have to dispute the charges. I made this reservation quite some time ago, so I hope I things will work out. Also, thanks to MarMarGal for posting this because I would never have known of the closing.

I've had a couple credit card disputes in the past. I made sure I kept good records of my attempts to settle the problem with the vendor (names, dates, times--you'll need this info). I called the CC company and rattled off my problem and filled them in on my communication with the company. Each time I did this, my credit card company immediately made a chargeback on my account (after listening to my side of the story) and forwarded me the dispute paperwork.

They contacted the company about the dispute to tell them about the problem and apparently asked them for their side of the story. I forwarded the dispute report back to the CC company the day I received it with the story on my attempts to settle with the vendor (names, dates, times, etc).

I've always gotten my money charged back...mainly because the vendor tried to rip me off and I had documented evidence (names, times, dates) that I tried to settle the dispute.

This case may be a bit tricky if the vendor skipped town with all the deposits or filed for bankruptcy, because the credit card company may not have any future revenue they can dock from the vendor to settle the dispute. In one case I was lucky to receive a sizable chunk of money returned due to a service contract dispute, then 3 months later the vendor went into bankruptcy. Had I not gotten my money out under the wire, I would have to join the conga-line of creditors lined up for pennies on the dollar.

Keep good records on this situation...if the credit card company won't chargeback your account, and the company hasn't filed for bankruptcy...you might want to consider filing a report with the sheriff.

In my previous post, I said I had emailed the owners of the house....well it turned out to be a representative of Emerald Sun so I don't expect to get a return email.
After some "googling" I found that the owner of the house I have rented through the Walton County Tax Appraisal District website. Just type in the home's address. I'll now track their phone number and give them a call. Hope this helps.

Don't be shocked if the owners won't talk to you, this is why some owners hire management companies. It's probably not personal, but they might get a little freaked out at first.

Here is the link for the Walton County Property Appraisers. Just go to the left and search records. Then by address.

http://www.waltonpa.com/

Here is the link to the Okaloosa County Property Appraiser. (Look to the left and click on property appraiser)

http://myokaloosacounty.com/

Under the circumstances, I don't think the owners would mind getting calls. From what I can gather, they are as surprised as the renters. Most property owners would not want to lose future booked rentals. And, I am sure some of the property management companies would gladly accept a house with rentals booked and work with everyone.

Sounds like a bad situation all around.