Vacation rental company's closure stirs outrage in Bodega Bay
Brad Buyse, on the deck of his vacation rental home overlooking Bodega Bay in Bodega Harbor, is among coastal owners who have lost money when Vacation Rentals USA management company they used went out of business.
MARK ARONOFF / The Press DemocratPublished: Friday, February 19, 2010 at 5:31 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, February 19, 2010 at 5:31 p.m.
Bill Noellert and his wife arrived last week in Bodega Bay for a weekend getaway, only to discover the company they had paid for a rental home was gone — and so was their money.
Vacation Rentals USA, which for decades had run the largest listing and management service for vacation homes in Bodega Bay, had closed three weeks earlier without notifying Noellert or refunding the $600 he paid.
“I was pretty flabbergasted that they would go out of business and not notify anyone,”
Noellert is hardly alone.
Vacation Rentals USA, which was run by Joann Beckman and her family, has left a trail of unpaid debts, unreturned rental deposits and about $1 million in overdue county taxes. It managed about 120 vacation homes.
The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office has opened a criminal investigation of Beckman and her company.
Beckman, who declared personal bankruptcy in November, did not return calls seeking comment. She shut Vacation Rentals USA on Jan. 21.
Many Bodega Bay residents, who rely on tourists for much of their local economy, are seething over the damage done to the reputation of their oceanside community.
“It's affected all of us,” said Kathleen Erba, a co-owner of Coldwell Banker Coast Properties in Bodega Bay. “It's just terrible.”
Many homeowners who trusted Beckman and her family to rent their homes are furious, saying they have not been paid in months despite records showing their homes were rented. Some claim they are owed as much as $20,000.
Renters who paid in advance for vacation homes say they have taken financial hits and are emotionally devastated.
On Wednesday, Robin Giacomotto and her family arrived in Bodega Bay with five other families — nearly 20 people. It was their 15th annual trip to Bodega Bay from their homes near Sacramento.
Shortly after arriving, they learned Vacation Rentals USA was defunct and they had lost their $3,000 paid for two homes.
“I'm so sad right now. I'm just in disbelief,” Giacomotto said. “We don't have the money to pay again. We may just end up driving home.”
Giacomotto tried to find Beckman but to no avail.
Her son, Michael Huffstutter, has started a new vacation rental service in partnership with another former Vacation Rentals USA employee. Their business is called Sonoma Coastal Vacation Rentals and shares office space with Beckman's house-cleaning business, Dustbusters, on Highway 1.
Huffstutter did not return calls left at Sonoma Coastal Vacation Rentals. A sign taped on the window Wednesday read, “I am very sorry but Joann Beckman is unavailable today.”
Sgt. Glenn Lawrence, who is leading the sheriff's investigation, encouraged anyone who thinks they are a victim of Vacation Rentals USA to contact him.
Jon Paul Huffstutter, who worked at Vacation Rentals USA with his sister Molly, brother Michael and cousin Christine, said his mother's business failed because of the economy. He also blamed the previous owner, saying he took advantage of his mother when she bought the company.
Huffstutter said the company fell behind on payments to homeowners last fall because the summer was unusually slow. But he said he was unsure why the business used money owed to homeowners or where exactly the money went.
“I don't know all the technical answers,” Huffstutter said. “I was just checking people in and taking phone calls.”
Joe Ghisletta, who listed his home with Vacation Rentals USA, said he believed Jon Paul and his wife were playing a more significant role in the business.
“Jon Paul told me he was going to be running the company,” Ghisletta said. “Jon Paul's wife was doing the books since August or July of last year.”
Ghisletta, a Napa County vintner and real estate investor, said he is owed $1,560 in unpaid rent collected for his Bodega Bay home. He let it slide for a while, he said, believing Beckman “was the sweetest-type grandma lady you'd ever want to meet.”
She wrote him a promissory note on Feb. 3, despite being in bankruptcy. She said she would start repaying him by Feb. 8.
“I've never seen any of that money. I never will,” he said. “She really conned me.”
His feelings are shared by others, who believe Beckman was not a just a victim or a faltering economy.
“I think what they've done to me is criminal,” said Don Springer, who owns a home in Bodega Bay. “I'm surprised she hasn't been handcuffed.”
Springer said he is owed $6,000 in rent collected by Vacation Rentals USA but never paid to him.
“She was collecting it. I want to know where this money went,” he said. “If it was someone who honestly was just in a tough business situation and owed me $6,000, I'd let it go. But I think this was calculated.”
The lack of rental payments have put some homeowners in a difficult financial position.
“We need to make our mortgage payment,” said Brad Buyse, who lives in the Sacramento area. “It puts us in an extreme bind.”
He is owed about $3,000.
Homeowners who thought Beckman was paying the taxes on their behalf might be on the hook for repaying the county, said Cathy Patton, who works for the county.
“It is not yet determined if the individual property owners will be responsible for the unpaid tax,” she said in an e-mail.
The county will not make that decision until after its tax audit of Vacation Rentals USA is complete, she said.
Beckman's bankruptcy case is set to conclude March 8.
The fallout from Beckman's bankruptcy, and the failure of Vacation Rentals USA, continues to be felt.
“We were supposed to have a wedding there on June 5,” said Rosita Aziz of Cotati.
Aziz was dismayed to learn she and her fiance, Matthew Rhode, had lost their rental deposit of $3,835 for a seaside home. Now four months before the wedding, they are still looking for a location.
“We wanted to do the ceremony overlooking the ocean,” Aziz said. “This has been a total nightmare.”
Bodega Bay Escapes has doubled its listings since Vacation Rentals USA closed, jumping from 21 homes listed to 41.
Another business, Bodega Bay & Beyond, has added nearly a dozen homes. These businesses also are dealing with former Vacation Rentals USA customers who show up at their doors looking for answers and often confused and angry.
“They weren't even told their rental was no longer good,” said Pamela Warren, owner of Bodega Bay Escapes.
Warren helped Bill Noellert and his wife secure an alternative home to rent in Bodega Bay.
“After about an hour in the house, looking at the ocean, I felt a lot better,” Noellert said.
Robin Giacomotto turned to Bodega Bay & Beyond, who now manages one of the homes Giacomotto had paid Vacation Rentals USA for. The manager at Bodega Bay & Beyond, Marissa Dyer, contacted the homeowner, who never had been paid for Giacomotto's trip.
In a silver-lining moment, the homeowner said Giacomotto and her family and friends could stay for free.
“It was very humanitarian of them,” Giacomotto said from the home. “It feels just so good to have a place to stay. The kids are already playing in the front yard.”
You can reach Staff Writer Nathan Halverson at 703-1577 or nathan.halverson@pressdemocrat.com.
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