Renting a beach house is a wonderful way to enjoy your vacation on LBI. You and your family have your own space to enjoy and there’s room for everyone to be together. And while there are plenty of honest owners renting their beach house for you to enjoy, there are, unfortunately, some people who try to mislead and steal from unsuspecting people. So it’s important to be aware and know what to do to protect yourself from vacation rental scams so that you can have an enjoyable and stress-free vacation.
First, know that our homes are never listed on Craigs List. While there may be many good listings found there, there are also frauds. For our beach homes, you can have the peace of mind by booking directly with us, or through VRBO or Airbnb. We only use trustworthy and reliable websites for our listings.
How Can you Protect Yourself From a Vacation Rental Scam?
Confirm that you have a legitimate booking for your vacation rental with these tips:
- If you find a rental on Craigs List, always confirm who the owner is before any payments are made.
- Never wire money.
- For our vacation rentals, we accept credit card or check when you book directly through us. When booking through an online vacation rental website, payment is made through that company, not to the owner.
- Call and talk to the person you’re dealing with.
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions. An owner will be happy to talk to a potential renter to answer your questions about the house.
- Most vacation rental websites won’t allow a phone number or email address to be seen until a booking is made. But if you’re booking through a trustworthy website, you do have added protections.
- Check the ownership of the home through the county or town.
- You can check Ocean County home ownership on their website.
