Rental car owners: This one's for you.

S

Steve Ostrovitz

New member
A lot of you know me as the driver of the 07 ITS RX-7, one of the four Flatout Motorsports cars. (Most of you have passed me at one time or another). I am also an attorney and own my own practice. Racing and the law thankfully almost never mix, but as several of the Flatout Motorsports drivers have expanded into the rental of race cars, I have had reason to do some work in this area.

The short version is this: I have spent a considerable amount of time over the last few months researching the business side of renting race cars, particularly rentals at the Club Racing level. I have reviewed countless rental contracts and found them to be barely worth the paper on which they were printed. Additionally, few racers are using anything that addresses liability, and if they are, the wording is inadequate, leaving the car owner wide open. I’ve heard numerous horror stories from other racers about rental deals gone bad. As a result, I have developed a small set of easy to use and understand documents designed specifically for the rental of race cars for drivers’ schools, track events, and races. (And yes, I have the blessing of the owner of this site to post this here.) I am offering the package to fellow racers at a huge discount for a set fee. If you’re interested, please contact me directly.

Thanks

Steve Ostrovitz
[email protected]
 
Steve,
I would like to ask that give Eli a call about this info, I know that something like this may have come in handy for them.
I don’t have easy access to a phone over here
(Lines are over an hour long) but can manage to get on the net from time to time.

Matt Bal
Ps Save me a spot on you crew list for the June 05 race
 
Matt! Good to hear from you.

I have something in the works for you but you're just gonna have to wait!

You're on the ball as always, as Eli and I have already spoken about this stuff. He gave me your latest updates before we even got down to business.

June 5th? Crew List? Whatever you want! Are you getting a break from the Big Sand Box that we should know about? Hope all is well, and be safe. You're on our minds all the time.



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Steve Ostrovitz
07 ITS RX-7
FlatOut Motorsports
New England Region
www.flatout-motorsports.com
 
A rental contract no matter how well written is worthless if the rentor can't afford to pay. The lesson learned here is know who you are renting to, make sure that they can take care of their debt and will. I could go into a long discourse here and paint a real ugly picture but why. Be careful who you let drive your car and make sure your not renting your only racecar unless you want to get out of racing.
Good luck
Dave Parker
wdcr itc#97
 
Generally, Dave is right. If you're not careful who you rent to and how you rent to them, you stand to lose out. But it doesn't have to be that way. The contract I have put together takes some steps to cover the issue of making sure the renter can cover the loss by better addressing issues of deposits and earnest money.

Remember: In the absolute *worst* case scenario, where the damage exceeds the deposit and the renter tries to stiff the owner, (forcing the car owner to sue to recover the difference) a good contract can lead to a shorter action with a better result than having a lousy contract, or worse, none at all. Renting a race car should not be undertaken casually. No matter how you think of it, its a business transactiion. It should be treated like any other investment. Dave is right: If you can't afford to lose it or be without it for some time, don't let anyone else behind the wheel.

Steve

[This message has been edited by Steve Ostrovitz (edited March 05, 2004).]
 
David, you said it all. Get the wrong person behind the wheel and the lesson learned can be brutal, especially if it's a rental to a stranger.

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Love "the commander"
Mike Cefalo
BE SAFE GO FAST HAVE FUN
 
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