Q: Rental car owner claims 100% of our deposit due to a "no dirt road" rule even though we did return car in best condition
Hi there,
We've rented a campervan in Las Vegas for 23 days and the owner has ruled in his contract that we are not allowed to drive on dirt roads with exception 1/4mile to/from campgrounds.
Otherwise he will claim 100% of the 1k deposit.
We have returned the car safe and 100% same condition as we have picked it up, but owner tracked our route via GPS and keeps our deposit because he claims that we drove dirt roads.
We indeed drove well maintained unpaved roads in three occasions at the last three days.
However we drove very slow and cautions ) and only to/from campgrounds since we didn't find other options to stay overnight in the specific area. The distance was longer than the allowed 1/4 mile though.
Is it legal to put such restrictions in a rental car contract and thus claim all of our deposit even though we did not brake anything and have returned the car in perfect condition?
Thank you!
Michael
A: There is no law which prohibits the parties from agreeing to such a term in a rental agreement.
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