If summer rhymes with idleness and sun, it sometimes happens that the high season is a period conducive to seasonal rental scams. Every summer, thousands of vacationers fall into a simple, but effective trap: they pay a deposit to a fake lessor for a virtual apartment. How to avoid having your vacation ruined by a bad investment?
Seasonal rental: increasingly common scams
Seasonal
rental scams are unfortunately common and all websites, whether generalist or specialized, are affected. The limitless inventiveness and the extreme skill of the scammers allow them to bypass all the safeguards. There are many types of scams, but they always have serious consequences:
- The pseudo-lessor disappears after the payment of the deposit.
- The real lessor's web account has been hacked by the crooks.
- The accommodation exists, but has been rented several times for the same period.
- Housing does not exist.
- The accommodation has nothing to do with its description in the advertisement.
Some criminals from Eastern Europe or West Africa have specialized for several years in this type of scam which requires only an Internet connection, but which can pay big. You are never completely sure of the real identity of your interlocutor by email in particular.
A few checks can limit the risk of disappointments:
- Ask for the contact information of the landlord and a landline phone number.
- Ask for the address of the property and verify its existence on Google maps.
- Ask for a RIB to make the payment of the deposit.
These precautions will never completely eliminate an attempted fraud. Talented scammers take advantage of the weaknesses of a remote transaction to succeed in their scams. However, only the use of a professional can completely secure the reservation. Going through a real estate agency on site remains the only solution to avoid any risk.
The qualities of a real estate agency with a storefront:
- It respects the law and a code of ethics.
- The conformity, the equipment and the healthiness of the rentals are checked.
- The accommodation offered is subject to a regulatory rental mandate.
- The transaction is secured by regulatory contract.
Beyond security, availability and reliability
By entrusting your seasonal
rental project to a real estate agency that is a reference on the spot, you benefit from all the professionalism of real estate agents, their perfect knowledge of the sector and their desire to satisfy you as well as possible! The best of Internet platforms will never replace the availability, reliability and friendliness of a professional! If by any chance, the slightest problem arises in your rental accommodation, a broken down equipment for example, you will know where to find an attentive ear and an attentive staff to resolve the situation. Moreover, some real estate agencies do not hesitate to offer concierge services for completely serene holidays.
Vacation rentals are the archetype of what the Internet can do: the best and the worst. The traditional real estate agency using the web wisely effectively eliminates multiple sources of risk and dissatisfaction.
