The Importance of a Home Exchange Agreement
I’ve been talking over the last few days with a long time member who states she and her family were let down at the last minute by a family with whom she believed she had a firm, committed arrangement.
Unfortunately, what she didn’t have was a written Home Exchange Agreement.
The lady sent me copies of the emails that had transpired between both parties, but they were limited in their content. She freely admitted that virtually all discussions had taken place over the phone—with no written verification—ever!
ExchangeHomes.com states as follows in our Terms of Membership:
“If we ever hear of a member canceling an exchange once a firm commitment has been made and tickets have been purchased, that member will be blacklisted and barred from future membership with ExchangeHomes.com and a warning will be issued to all other clubs.”
However, to enforce this commitment, we first need to receive irrevocable proof, and without question, the best form of this is a signed Home Exchange Agreement. Hearing an unfortunate and usually sad story from one of the parties just isn’t enough.
What makes this story even more regrettable is the fact that the family who complained to me are experienced exchangers with a number of successful home exchanges behind them. I suppose they should be count themselves fortunate that if they have never “bothered” with written agreements, they haven’t encountered a similar problem before.
ExchangeHomes.com publishes an e-book we call our Hints and Advices Book. It’s available for both members and visitors to read online, and we also provide a PDF version for download. Included is a suggested Home Exchange Agreement which anyone can copy and use.
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