Track town tenants.

Byline: Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard

The day after it was advertised on the Internet July 30, a one-bedroom rental cottage in Junction City was booked for the entire U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, which will be in Eugene next June 27 to July 6.

A couple from the Midwest snapped it up for $1,750, or $175 a night - about twice the regular rate for a 10-day stay, said Patti Gaut, co-owner of the cottage.

The Midwest couple, Leah and Tom, who asked that their last name not be used, started looking for a hotel room months ago, when their Trials ticket order was confirmed. But their top seven or eight hotel choices were sold out, Leah said, and she started to get nervous.

"We have to stay somewhere, and I know there's a lot of people coming in," she said.

When she came across the ad for the Gaut's cottage, Leah pounced on it.

The Trials, which are expected to draw 1,000 athletes, 1,000 members of the media and daily crowds of 15,000 fans to Hayward Field, will test the limits of lodging in Lane County.

The local organizing committee's housing bureau has reserved rooms at area hotels/motels and at University of Oregon dorms for credentialed guests, such as athletes, coaches, officials and media. The Convention & Visitors Association of Lane County Oregon is helping spectators find lodging.

The big question mark is how many fans will stay overnight, and - in the absence of plentiful hotel rooms nearby - will they flock to university dorms, stay in lodging outside Eugene, or seek private lodging?

The visitors association estimates that 3,000 rooms are needed to lodge spectators each night of the 10-day Trials. (Each room typically accommodates more than one guest.)

The Oregon Bach Festival, which overlaps the Trials, needs about 120 rooms per night for audience members, spokesman George Evano estimated. Rooms in University of Oregon dorms and hotels have already been secured for performers, he said.

Just in Eugene and Springfield, 18 hotels and motels, with nearly 2,500 rooms, already are sold out; another 20 properties have about 1,000 rooms to rent, according to the visitors association.

Eight hundred beds in UO dorm rooms are at the ready to house spectators for the Trials, at $49 to $59 a night, per person (meals included), said project organizer Tom Jordan. "We feel that there is adequate housing to accommodate everyone who comes to the Olympic Trials," he said.

Figuring that lodging will be tight, and that many visitors would prefer to stay in a furnished home or apartment, some enterprising area residents and property managers have begun to advertise their houses or apartments for rent on Web sites such as craigslist.com.

The offers range from 10 nights for a furnished one-bedroom apartment across the street from Hayward Field, for $2,500, to 10 nights in a four-bedroom house, six blocks from Hayward Field, with hot tub, wi fi and maid service for $8,000.

At least one online matchmaker, FastTrackHousing.com, has popped up to connect those seeking houses or rooms to rent with those offering them. The creators of the site did not respond to interview requests.

The market for alternative lodging that's starting to emerge in Eugene probably wouldn't happen in a larger community with more than enough hotel rooms to go around.

"I'm not sure I've heard of too many communities where there's been an interest in doing (private) home stays," Jordan said. "I'm not aware that it came up in Sacramento," host of the last two Trials, he said.

"I think it's a nice reflection of the fact that (this) community is interested in the Olympic Trials and wants to help out," Jordan said.

There's also money to be made - and potentially lots of it, if a housing crunch materializes. Prices could go as high as the market allows.

"That's not illegal; that's how the market works," said Stephanie Soden, spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Justice. "If you think it's worth it (to pay) $1,000 a night for a room, it's your prerogative."

Some organizations have even seized upon the idea of renting rooms as a fundraiser. The Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene in a recent newsletter asked members to consider renting their homes during the Trials and donating the proceeds to fund construction of a new church building.

Why rent?

Bill Gonzalez, a part-time driver for a Eugene airport shuttle service, said he decided to rent out his Santa Clara home during the Trials because he was hearing how quickly hotels were selling out.

"I thought it was an opportunity knocking," said Gonzalez.

He's advertising his three-bedroom, two-bathroom home online for $2,000 for the 10-day Trials, which includes a $500 refundable deposit.

Gonzalez said he and his wife had just finished decorating their new three-bedroom home, when she passed away at the beginning of the year.

"It would greatly help me out financially to do this sort of thing," Gonzalez said. "Otherwise, I probably would not do it."

Gonzalez plans to stay in his parents' spare room in Eugene while he rents out his home. He said that back in 1984, he rented out his Los Angeles home to an East Coast couple during the summer Olympics, and it was a "good experience." They enjoyed their stay and left the house tidy, he said.

Dayna King, a local property manager, has rented out a three-bedroom house in the Ferry Street Bridge area since she bought it as an investment in January.

She advertises the home on several vacation rental Web sites, and recently booked it at $300 a night for the 10-day Trials.

Private lodgings for rent are a side note to efforts by local organizers to house credentialed guests and the visitors' association's work to find lodging for spectators. Neither group objects to these person-to-person housing arrangements, but they are quick to say they don't endorse them.

"Any time you have an official housing bureau that would act as a broker between a (landlord) and a (tenant), you are open to issues of liability if something goes wrong," Jordan said. The local visitors association also does not refer visitors to lodging in private homes, said Lisa Lawton, community relations director.

"We can't assume responsibility for private home stays," she said. "We would want to ensure the safety of visitors, and we have no way of tracking whether it's safe for people to stay with residents."

If local organizers and the visitors association steer clear of placing visitors in private homes, should local homeowners do it?

What happens if, say, a guest is injured after slipping on the deck, gets bit by the homeowner's dog, or claims that something his host served gave him food poisoning?

And perhaps the greatest fear of all for those whose biggest asset is their home: What happens if the renters end up trashing the place?

Homeowners' insurance policies differ, but "most exclude bodily injury or property damage arising out of a rental," said Ron Fredrickson, manager of the consumer advocacy unit of the state Insurance Division.

Local attorney Randy Turnbow recommends that homeowners interested in renting ask their insurance agent if they have appropriate coverage. He also recommends a written contract, which contains an obligation for the tenant to pay to repair any damage.

As for liability, anyone who rents out their home has a legal obligation to "take reasonable care to prevent injury," Turnbow said. "If there's a known defect or a known danger, they obviously have a duty to disclose it, if not fix it."

Other rules apply, if a homeowner agrees to serve meals.

Risky business

In the age of the Internet, where most of these deals are made, perils abound, said Sgt. Terry Fitzpatrick, of the Eugene Police Department's fraud investigation unit. "I'm sure there's going to be a lot of people that advertise rooms in Eugene, and they don't live here," he said.

Property owners need to be on the lookout for schemes like the "overpayment scam," where people applying for a rental send what appears to be an over-payment and ask the homeowner for a refund. The landlord cashes the check, refunds the overpayment, and several weeks later, learns that the check was counterfeit and that he owes the bank the amount of the check. And the landlord is out the money he returned to the tenant.

Once visitors arrive, other risks emerge: possible damage to the house, theft of belongings, and identity theft, if a tenant snoops through a renter's mail or files, Fitzpatrick said.

Plenty of people have successfully rented homes or rooms without a hitch, however.

Dayna King said in the past seven months, only one tenant has disappointed her. A man from Hawaii, who was planning to relocate his family to Oregon, had reserved the house for a month, King said. He paid a deposit and partial rent of $1,200, she said, but the day before check-in, he suddenly canceled. He ended up forfeiting the $1,200, but King had been planning to earn $3,800 from the monthlong rental.

Other than that, she said her experience "has been wonderful."

King said she thinks she has avoided problems by requiring a substantial amount of cash upfront. She requires a $500 refundable deposit and half the rent when she books the house. The remainder is due 15 days before arrival. If a renter cancels less than 60 days before arrival, there is no refund.

It's unclear just how high lodging prices might go during the Trials.

Most renters advertising homes said they came up with a price by looking at hotel rates and the rates of other rental properties.

"If you were to go rent a (luxury hotel) room, they'd probably charge $200 to $300 a day for a one-bedroom suite," said Gonzalez, the Santa Clara homeowner.

"So, if you multiply that out, it's pretty easy to come up with a range. I didn't want to be extremely high and price myself out of it. I figured $1,500 for 10 days, with a $500 deposit, was in the ballpark."

A ready supply of 1,500 UO dorm beds for Trials visitors and 300 beds for Oregon Bach Festival visitors should relieve some of the price pressure.

Jordan, one of the Trials organizers, said he doesn't know whether private rentals will be popular.

"I think if somebody has a group of people and they want that option of having their own place, then it might go," he said. "I wouldn't expect that there would be that interest until a couple of months before the Trials when people are focused on it. We are still 11 months away."

Couple is undeterred 

At least one property - little Kalmia Cottage in Junction City - has been booked already, however. And it's 12 miles away from the action.

That didn't deter Leah and Tom, the Midwestern couple who reserved the cottage.

"In our travels, we're used to driving around, and the distance ... is not a problem at all," Leah said. "Even if we took an outlying hotel in Eugene, we'd have to drive into town or to catch a shuttle.

"I do like the idea of a private cottage all to ourselves," Leah said. "You can wake up and make breakfast. You can have your oatmeal and leave for the day. And at the end of the day, you can get away from all the hype."

The couple, both age 53, Master's athletes and avid track fans, have been to Eugene about eight times to compete and to visit relatives in Florence, Leah said.

"We have gone to the Olympics in Atlanta and L.A., and in both those cases, there was a huge amount of hype that you'll have to stay in a private home, or you'll have to stay 50 miles away, and at the last minute, rooms became available," Leah said.

"But I didn't want to wait and try that tactic, even though we suspect that's what might occur," she said. "Eugene is smaller, so they might just fill up everything and not release (more rooms) at the last moment."

Jordan said if organizers discover closer to the Trials that they don't need all the rooms reserved for athletes and other credentialed visitors, they would return them to the hotels.

Even if some rooms are released later, however, "I think it's unlikely that there would be rooms for the entire eight days (of competition)," Jordan said.

DO'S AND DON'TS OF SHORT-TERM HOUSE RENTAL

FOR LANDLORDS

Make sure everything is safe and in working order.

Check whether your insurance policy covers personal injury and property damage stemming from a short-term rental. If it doesn't, buy additional coverage.

Avoid doing a deal through e-mail only. Ask applicants for references and do a background check. A free online name search, such as zabasearch.com, can confirm a person's address and phone number.

Put the agreement in writing. Require the tenant to pay for any property damage.

Do not accept cashier checks or money orders, which can be faked easily. If accepting personal checks, require full payment several weeks in advance.

No permits are required to rent out a home, or one or two rooms, during the Trials. Health inspection officials recommend landlords serving food to tenants have a food handler's card, which can be obtained by taking a short test online under "public health" at www.lanecounty.org. The cost is $10. A live-in host who rents out more than two rooms is subject to additional regulations. Landlords should check with their local government. Landlords should not represent their property as a B&B unless it is licensed as such.

Land use code for the cities of Eugene and Springfield allow up to five unrelated individuals in one dwelling in areas zoned single-family residential. Enforcement of this rule is complaint-driven.

FOR TENANTS

Avoid doing a deal through e-mail only. Confirm the landlord's address and phone number. Zabasearch.com offers free online name searches; the tax assessor's office at [phone] can confirm registered ownership of Lane County properties.

Put the agreement in writing.

Do not respond to requests to wire payment via Western Union, or other wire services. Use a credit card - not a debit card - in case there are contested charges later. Ask for receipts.

Arrange parking with the landlord. Respect the neighbors and the rental property.

SOURCES: Attorney Randy Turnbow; Sgt. Terry Fitzpatrick; Eugene Police Department; craigslist; Lane County Environmental Health; and cities of Eugene and Springfield.