12.12.18 - The Vacation Rental Compliance Department has received multiple reports of individuals advertising vacation rentals on Craigslist and utilizing the below image as proof that the property is registered as a vacation rental trough the City. Please note the below image is not a Vacation Rental Registration Certificate issued by the City. Should you have questions or concerns about a possible property that you considering booking please review the "red flags" section below, or you may contact our office at 760-322-8382.
In recent years, vacation rental fraud and internet based vacation rental scams have unfortunately gained popularity. The City of Palm Springs encourages both travelers and Vacation Rental operators to be cautious and to look for “red flags” during the booking process.
If you are a traveler:
- Use a legitimate booking site and/or an established rental agency
- Read property reviews
- Check the prices in the areas and compare. The price may be too good to be true.
- Always pay with a credit card. Never pay by cash, check, wire-transfer or money order.
- Do not give out your social security number to book a vacation rental.
- Check the address on Google Maps and verify the property does exists.
If you suspect that you have been a victim of a vacation rental scam, here are helpful resources:
- Report the scam to FTC(Federal Trade Commission)
- File a fraud report with the local police department
- Fire a report with the FBI (Internet Crime Complaint Center)
- Contact and inform the booking site and/or listing site if one was used
- Contact your credit card company
If you are a homeowner whose property has been falsely listed as a vacation rental, contact the listing website directly. In addition, you may flag (or report) the listing for removal; this option is available on most listing website platforms.
