Screening your vacation rental guests is an important step in protecting yourself, your vacation rental and the future revenue it will generate for you. Vacation rental listing sites often require a government ID, but also tend to limit interaction between you and your guest, making screening more difficult. I have seen my share of problem guests and there are plenty of horror stories out there. Here are a few of my tips for screening your vacation rental guests.
Look out for Fake Contact Information
If an email address or phone number looks fake, it probably is. You should not rent to anyone that is not willing to provide legitimate contact info.
Spammy email addresses or those that look like they belong a high school student should also be avoided. These are fake at worst. At best they belong to someone you may not want to trust with your vacation rental.
Talk to Your Guest on the Phone
This is one of the easiest (and most effective) ways of screening your vacation rental guests.
The age of mobile apps and online bookings has made it easier than ever to book accommodations. The downside is this can also allow fraudsters to book anonymously.
Take a few minutes to talk to your guest on the phone if you are concerned about a booking. Ask them some simple questions about their group and their reason for travelling without being too intrusive or sounding suspicious. If the traveler refuses to speak with you, this should be seen as a big red flag.
Use Online Resources
You can research your potential guest online by simply doing a Google search of their name or phone number. Many employers are starting to check the social media accounts of prospective employees. The rise in social media use also works to a vacation rental owner’s advantage. A Facebook page displaying photos of binge drinking would be a red flag, for example. On the other hand, a professional LinkedIn page might indicate a quality renter.
Use Caution with Last Minute Bookings
Vacation rental guests typically, but not always, book a little farther in advance than a hotel guest. Most vacationers need time to take off work, plan their trip and arrange transportation. Of course not every last minute booking is bogus, but you need to be extra cautions with these.
Most travelers that intend to be dishonest or deceitful tend to book within 2 weeks or less of their expected travel date. This makes sense as it gives the owner or business less time to vet or discover the dishonest individual. You should be especially cautious with last minute bookings for an unusually large amount of money. The adage, “if it is too good to be true…” certainly rings true.
Again you can certainly receive bookings like this that are perfectly legitimate. Last minute trips happen all the time. I would just perform some extra due diligence in this instance.
Require a Strong, Signed Rental Agreement
You should organize a thorough, professional rental agreement and ask that each renter acknowledge this before booking. Scammers often go for the “low hanging fruit”. A poorly written or worse, no rental agreement, might signify that you are ripe for the picking to a potential scammer.
A strong rental agreement signifies that you know what you are doing and monitor your business appropriately. This should deter many renters that intend to act in bad faith.
Verify Guests with a Photo ID
When processing a guest booking, make sure the guest provides you a copy of their photo ID (many vacation rental listing sites already do this for you). Check the ID and make sure the name on the ID matches the name on the reservation and/or credit card. Also make sure the address on the ID matches the address provided on the reservation. Keep a copy of their ID in your records.
Then the key part is to verify the guest that booked your property online is the same person actually staying in your property. Ideally you will meet your guests in person at check-in to verify. This is a good time to answer any questions, show them the features of your vacation rental and check their ID. Otherwise how do you know if they haven’t booked the property for someone else? If you do not live in the same community as your vacation rental, you may want to consider hiring a vacation rental manager or at least another representative that can meet guests face to face.
Make Sure the Booking Fits within Your House Rules
You have certainly decided what house rules to have in place for your vacation rental and enforce these for every booking. These include whether your property is pet friendly, the number of occupants allowed and whether parties/events are allowed.
Occasionally you might receive bookings where the guest has either not read your house rules or obviously plans to ignore them. Either way this is probably a guest you want to avoid. For example, we have had guests say they “plan to bring their 3 large dogs” when booking a property that is clearly not advertised as pet friendly. We have also had guests proudly proclaim that they plan to have a group size of more than double the allowed occupancy.
I understand that guests research a lot of vacation rentals online before picking one, so all the different properties and their house rules can tend to meld together. They are also excited about their vacation and maybe not paying 100% attention. Still a guest that is already disregarding/breaking your house rules before they even set foot in your property will almost certainly not treat your home with the respect it deserves. A good guest will want to know and follow your rules.
Consider Direct Bookings
Vacation rental listings sites are a great way to find renters from all over the world. The issue is these websites can limit the interaction you have with guests, which can in turn lead to problem tenants or outright fraud.
Consider devising methods to capture direct vacation rental bookings, if you currently rely solely on listing sites for bookings. I will talk more about how to capture direct bookings later in this blog, but repeat business and building your own online presence are what you need.
Ideally at least 20% of your bookings could come directly to you. This puts you back in control of the entire process and will help you with screening your vacation rental guests.
Have Age Requirements and Enforce Them
Most vacation rentals have a minimum age requirement in place of at least 21 years old. You might consider increasing this to 25 if you are concerned with your property turning into a Spring Break party pad. My community is a fairly big Spring Break destination, so a 25 and up age requirement is very typical.
The key thing here is actually enforcing your age requirements. You should certainly list this age requirement prominently on any website where your property is listed. You will want the primary guest to be of proper age. Any remaining guests that are underage are of course acceptable if they are related to the primary guest (children, niece/nephew, grandchildren). I recommend having your primary guest provide a list of everyone staying in your property and their relationship with the primary guest. You are trying to avoid a situation where one 25 year old books your vacation rental for all of his or her underage friends.
Check up on Your Guests During Their Stay
A quick text message or phone call to your guests during their stay is great in many ways. It shows your guests you value their business. Personal touches also remind guests that you are a real person, which should make them be more respectful of your rental.
Some owners will also stop by in person. This is great for face-time as well as ensuring the condition of your vacation rental. Guests tend to be on their best behavior if they know the owner or manager is nearby. I would be careful with too many in-person visits or with visiting at odd hours. An owner could quickly turn from helpful to annoying in the eyes of a guest trying to enjoy their vacation.
Utilize a Damage Waiver or Security Deposit
Vacation rental owners with even the most thorough screening procedures will still occasionally encounter a bad guest, despite their best efforts. You can hope for the best but prepare for the worst by collecting a security deposit or having guests purchase a damage waiver.
Damage waivers and security deposits each have their own set of pros and cons. What works best for you will depend on your own situation.
