To avoid being scammed, business and vacation travelers should stick with reputable Las Vegas vacation home rental companies for corporate housing and travel and stay away from by-owner rentals and web classifieds. This is especially true now, with the proliferation of foreclosure scams and the ever common ripoffs happening due to the challenging economic conditions. Be sure to read this valuable article on the typical online vacation rental scams and other ripoffs, provided by Las Vegas Retreats.
One recent manifestation in online scams is the advertising of foreclosed and abandoned homes as "vacation rentals". The goal of this scam is to take your money and, literally, give you nothing.The typical scam process here is that someone (the scam artist) who does not own the home, will attempt to rent the foreclosed or abandoned home online by posting an online ad to a site like Craigslist. The scam artists will find subject homes by using online auction sites, where they will locate a property to offer as a "vacation rental" as if they owned it. The scammer then steals the auction site content to create their bogus vacation rental ad.
Once a scammer has the interest of a potential renter, they will ask for information such as credit card or social security etc., as one might expect when renting a home. The scammer will then process and deposit checks and credit card payments from the customer for the rental. The customer will probably not find out about the scam until they attempt to check in to the non-existent rental. Once they do, they are left without their money or anywhere to stay.
Obviously one way to avoid this problem is to ask to see the home in advance of making your commitment. But unless you live reasonably close to your destination, this is probably not practical. Nonetheless, ask if you can see the home first and take note of any resistance. Quite simply, do not rent from anyone who is not willing to comply with that request.
Many homeowners have made their homes available for rent to stave off foreclosure. But ask yourself, is this really who you want to send your money to? Are you really going to give thousands of dollars to someone on the brink of bankruptcy?
Be reasonable with your expectations. Nobody can stay solvent when they are giving everything away. As always it's caveat emptor, let the buyer beware. Again, try to avoid using only price as your criteria. Homes priced too low are likely in distress.
Lastly, and this is especially true for corporate housing, consider what will happen if you need help during your stay. Are your employees prepared to go it alone if something goes wrong? And even if you are coming for the plumbers convention, do you really want to have your employees spending thier valuable time in Las Vegas fixing a broken water heater?
Renting from a company with 24 hour customer service is one way to ensure that you will get the help if you need it. And remember, the real value of customer service happens when you need it. It's easy to overlook when you don't.
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Published Copyright © 2009, Las Vegas Retreats LLC.
