How to prevent cheating and scams with vacation rentals

Imagine trying to rent the dream home for your vacation and that the time has come to enter it and there is no owner, no keys, no house or of course the money you have advanced for the reservation. Here are our tips to prevent scams in the rental of holiday homes.

The emergence of new digital platforms in the holiday rental market has also brought the emergence of criminal networks that see in this activity a considerable source of income with a relatively low degree of exposure to justice.

There are many warnings that from the State Security Forces, from public administrations and from consumer defense agencies have been made in this regard in recent years.

The modus operandi of this type of networks is relatively simple: they identify a good, usually luxury houses or chalets and advertise it in one or several portals with an attractive price that attracts users’ attention. The initial contact with the advertiser is simple. He usually responds quickly to both phone calls and email and identifies himself with his full name and even with DNI to gain the trust of the client. When the decision is made to rent the owner, the owner requests an economic amount that normally does not fall by thousands of euros, depending on the house and the period, as a reservation for accommodation, deposit or payment in advance. These payments are never made in person or in any way that leaves a mark, but usually through transfer. Once the client has made the payment, the house and the supposed owner only smoke remains.

There are simple measures that allow in a short time and with a low cost to disassemble the scammer’s trick, as is the registration verification of the property (check if it is registered and in whose name).

Throughout our years of exercise we have encountered several clients who have unfortunately fallen into these types of scams after having received notarized notarized documents or registrations from the advertiser. That is why it is so important to obtain the simple note of the property registration by yourself and check if what is said by the supposed owner is true or not. A management of just a few hours and a cost of just a few euros can save you a significant break in your pocket and enough headaches.