How to prevent basic miscommunication between hosts & guests, fraud, and cancellations

Lodgers

Lodgers need to be wary of hosts who take their money and then upon arrival there is no such listing and the advertising is false. There are many ways to protect yourself in these situations. You may also find that your hospital has canceled or changed their agreement with you once you’ve arrived. That’s not considered fraud, but probably should. Also you may need to cancel if the lodging doesn’t meet your needs. If the issue was indicated in the listing description or communications, then you will have little recourse, so read all communication carefully.

• Make payments through a guaranteed payment system where you can make a claim if the reservation turns out to be nonexistent: VRBO, Airbnb, a credit card with a guarantee, Paypal (If you make the payment through friends and family it is not covered. Make sure what you are paying for is clearly defined in the payment invoice.)
• Take out aTravelers’ insurance policyto protect yourself against a fraudulent reservation and trip interruption.
• Check the social media: facebook pages, advertisements, web pages.
• Require an in person or virtual meeting. Get a tour of at least the outside of the facility. (An inside tour may not be possible if there is a current lodger.) If you have a friend in the area have them visit the space and verify.
• Check reviews on various platforms. For example, airbnb reviews can only be made by someone who actually had a reservation at that listing. Yelp, google and facebook reviews can be made by anyone, including competitors.
• Read the listing and rules carefully to assure the space is right for you. Ask all questions regarding the amenities and the rules prior to or immediately after booking. Hosts are autonomous and each listing is specific to that host. It’s not like booking a hotel room. Make sure that you can live with the rules. In many cases, even with whole house listings, you’ll be staying in someone else’s home.
• Check the cancellation policy.
• Check Furnished Finders, Houfy and other listing platforms that offer host verification to assure that the host is verified.
• Search google images for similar photographs (though there are ways frauders can change the image so it doesn’t show up in a search.)
• You should have a renters’ or homeowners’ insurance policy. Make sure that it covers not only your primary residence but your personal items when traveling. The host will be covered, for example if there is a fire, but unless you have your own coverage, your property will not be covered. Renters’ insurance is very inexpensive. Even if you’re a home owner, you may want to take out a renter’s policy to cover you while renting and to protect your homeowners’ policy from claims penalties. Also homeowners’ policies tend to have very high deductibles.
• Check with public records to determine who the owner is. Check and see if the business is a registered and legit business.

• Host refuses to meet with you either in person or virtually and to give you a tour of the facilities. (If there is a current tenant, host may only be able to show you the exterior.)
• The price is too good to be true.
• Host communicates only during the middle of the night, indicating that they might be in a different time zone. (This is not hard and fast. For example, we often return messages during the night.)
• Web page or facebook pages are very recent and have little history. Photos are the same as other listings.
• Photos look like stock photos. There is no actual photo of a person or people on the social media page and the photos that do exist are very generic and seem staged. (Be careful, some hosts may hire professional photographers or be professional photographers, so the mere presence of a professional image is not proof, but it is something to investigate.)
• Hosts resent or refuse to answer your questions, concerns or queries.
• You don’t hear back from them after following these precautions.
• Hospitals are more and more changing the terms of the contract after arrival or terminating the contract early. This isn’t considered fraud, but it should be. You’ve taken on considerable expense and turned down other jobs to come out and work for them. They should honor their agreement with you.
• Host tells you the space may not be available for long and to make a decision quickly. (This may be true, but don’t be dissuaded from doing due diligence.)

Hosts

• One of the more typical scams is someone who wants to make a payment via personal check or cashiers’ check, for MORE than the actual cost of the reservation and then request the balance be paid to them in cash. These are almost always frauds.
• Squatters: people who stay 30 days to establish residency and then don’t pay rent and refuse to leave.
• Guests who want to cut their stay short and not pay for the balance of their reservation without sufficient notice.

• Require payment through a guaranteed and established payment method: paypal, venmo, credit cards, hosting platforms like airbnb, VRBO.
• For stays over 30 days, have a clear cancellation policy, security deposit, application process, background check and lease agreement.
• Establish clear rules for staying in your space especially if the space is also where you live.
• Make sure your listing is completely accurate to attract the right guests and dissuade the wrong ones.
• Take out an insurance policy for damages caused by guest, for each reservation. We use Property Protect.
• Require a security deposit sufficient to cover legal costs if necessary.
• Do a google search of their name to assure that they are not people inclined to be overly litigious.
• Require a copy of their work contract if they are a short term contract employee (for example, a traveling nurse.)
• Request or require that the guest carry renters or homeowners insurance that covers their losses in case of any loss.
• Request or require that the guest carry travel insurance that includes trip interrupt coverage.