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A Host’s Painful Experience: How to Avoid Stolen Credit Card Fraud on Short-Term Rental Platforms!

阿蓝聊民宿 · Snowball Rentals · 2024-09-16

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Homeowners, we have once again been hit by stolen credit card fraud.

This time, the loss exceeded US$1000...

Cropped payment-dispute screenshot from the original: US$1,072.13; the bank decided in favor of the cardholder, and the disputed amount and dispute fee would not be returned. The original shows “Last update: Jun 22, 12:04 AM,” without a year or time zone. Customer and payment-method identifiers are omitted; this is a source excerpt, not the complete screenshot.

This dispute was lost

The issuing bank decided in favor of the cardholder. The disputed amount of $1,072.13 USD and the dispute fee will not be returned to you.

Relevant documents

View your submitted evidence

View dispute claim

Original “Last update”: Jun 22, 12:04 AM. No year or time zone is shown.

In a previous video, we shared how we listed a short-term rental on Booking.com but, because the platform did not verify the guest's identity, hosted someone using a stolen credit card and lost US$3,000–4,000.

Snowball Rentals

As the saying goes, once bitten, twice shy. Ever since, we have been particularly cautious about bookings where we must charge guests' credit cards ourselves.

After one to two years without incident, we were unfortunately caught again this time.

First, let me identify the platform through which this guest using a stolen credit card booked. It is called RentalsUnited, a channel management company.

When you list on Rentals United, it helps publish your properties on what it claims are more than 100 short-term rental platforms to attract bookings. Of course, we already covered the mainstream platforms. We wanted to try Rentals United because it could expose our listings on many small platforms we had never heard of.

After six months of trying it, how many bookings did those 100-plus additional platforms bring? The embarrassing answer: three... We had nearly a hundred properties, but after six months on those additional platforms, there were only three bookings in total, one of which used a stolen credit card!

Homeowners, we certainly paid for that lesson!

So stop believing the myth that more platforms mean more revenue. Operating a few mainstream platforms well is enough.

Returning to the issue: why were we caught by credit card fraud again?

After the previous Booking.com experience, we stopped accepting same-day check-in bookings and began manually verifying guests' identities. We required a photo of their identification, with the name matching both the person booking and the credit card holder.

We also required guests to send a selfie holding their identification.

This guest booked the day before check-in and did indeed send an ID photo, with a matching name.

But... there is always a “but.”

The guest said she was on a plane and could not conveniently take a selfie, so sent only the ID photo. Throughout the conversation, she was cooperative and very polite, so we believed her...

As a result, because we did not insist on a selfie holding her ID, we were fooled again!

This painful lesson cost us US$1000 in “tuition.” Fortunately, the property was in good condition when the guest checked out, with no additional loss.

So homeowners, although Rentals United claims it can list your properties on more than a hundred platforms, our practical test found it ineffective.

If you need to accept bookings paid by credit card, insist on a selfie of the guest holding their ID. Do not be like us: trying to be friendly to a guest cost us US$1000 in an instant... As a homeowner, you may now ask: my house is also good, but how much could Airbnb earn? More than long-term renting? Would there be many hassles?

If you:

Hope to increase rental income through short-term rentals;

Cannot spare a great deal of time to handle the small details;

Occasionally need to use the home yourself, making it unsuitable to empty out the furniture for a long-term rental;

Then:

Snowball Rentals’ management team is your best choice.

From pre-launch vacation-rental styling, big-data analysis and online marketing to tenant screening, dynamic pricing, customer service and sales, cleaning and repairs, Snowball Rentals provides everything as one complete service for your home.

This Week’s Booking Results

Through long-standing relationships with insurers, assignment companies and technology companies, Snowball Rentals rents homes for medium- and long-term durations at short-term rates, then gives owners a rebate of 5% in management fees to maximize their income.

As the weather gets cooler, Seattle’s short-term rental low season is approaching again.

Short-term rentals in peak season and mid-term rentals in low season: this is the new strategy we have repeatedly emphasized and tried this year! Some recent large bookings have been like a ray of sunshine. Homeowners, let us support one another and face the approaching low season with confidence.

On Redfin, we can find an estimated average long-term monthly rent of approximately $6405 for this detached house on Mercer Island.

The owner placed great trust in Snowball Rentals, and the property went straight into short-term rental operation after furnishing.

With an excellent location and highly practical layout, this detached house has always rented easily. This time, it secured another large booking!

As shown in the booking screenshot below, a guest rented this house through Airbnb for a total of 272 nights. Without deliberately planning it, a short-term rental became a mid-term rental.

The rental income plus cleaning fee for this booking reached $72050!

Using Redfin's monthly estimate of $6405, the long-term rent for 272 nights would be approximately $58000.

In summary, with Snowball Rentals operating this detached house, what the source calls “monthly rental revenue” rose from $58000 for the long-term comparison to $72050,

an increase of nearly 25%.

Some owners may ask: compared with earlier large bookings that often doubled the rent, this one only added 25%. Is that really impressive?

But look carefully: this booking's 272 days run from September 1 this year to May 31 next year. It covers the entire short-term rental off-season, September through the following March. Better still, the end of the stay flows straight into June, the start of the short-term rental peak season!

For homeowners, combining short- and mid-term rentals in this way can earn more in peak season and help them get through low season smoothly. Even if the low-season rental figures look less dramatic, they still outperform long-term rentals and give homeowners a strong sense of financial security.

More importantly, the owner does not have to worry about maintenance or cleaning. When something needs to be discussed with guests, we also help with communication and oversight.

Here, we again thank the owner for placing trust in the Snowball Rentals team!

After nearly two years of Airbnb’s downturn, we at Snowball Rentals hope to help owners make steady progress in low season, navigate the challenges safely and lay a better foundation for next year’s peak season.

Once again, heartfelt thanks to our homeowners for their trust and support. Whether the market is strong or weak, Snowball Rentals will stand with you and look for ways to increase your income!

Some homeowners will surely ask the hard question: was a large booking like this just a stroke of luck? What if the home does not rent? A long-term rental is more stable—even earning less is better than earning nothing!

Our answer is: the outcome depends on what we do.

Vacation-Rental Styling

Competition on Airbnb is becoming increasingly intense. The days of piecing together secondhand furniture, taking phone photos and earning easy money on Airbnb are over. Airbnb hosts have moved toward professional operations.

Careful design and furnishing before launch, followed by professional short-term rental operations, will be the only choice for a rental that continues to generate high income.

Here is another of Snowball Rentals’ core services: vacation-rental styling!

Let us enjoy this excellent detached house!

When choosing a short-term rental on Airbnb, would this home’s appearance attract you?

If you would also like to make your home more attractive and earn more rent, please contact us at any time!

This Week’s Short Videos

We regularly update short videos every week.

The content you need is all here.

👇🏻 Homeowners are welcome to follow us 👇🏻

Snowball Rentals

We also share practical vacation-rental styling plans and creative ideas to help you achieve more with less spending!

Keep rental income growing!

Xiao An’s Vacation-Rental Styling

Referral Rewards

If you are already a Snowball Rentals homeowner, you receive a US$500 referral fee for each referral.

If you are not yet a Snowball Rentals homeowner, you receive a US$250 shopping voucher for each referral.

Snowball Rentals Management

1. Full service — We provide pre-launch rental design, furniture procurement, furnishing, professional photography, online marketing, copywriting, tenant service and sales, cleaning, supply purchasing and property repairs. You only need to be a hands-off owner; we handle the rest.

2. Multi-platform promotion — We promote the home on Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway and other mainstream platforms for maximum exposure.

3. Dynamic pricing — Using big data, we adjust prices every day according to seasonal demand, holidays, last-minute vacancy offers, weekends and local activities, maximizing the owner’s income.

4. Income-improvement SOP — We follow 44 secrets for maximizing short-term rental income, optimizing each property’s online marketing, on-site operations and other aspects to work toward maximum income.

5. Flexible owner stays — Owners can flexibly choose when to stay themselves. This is especially suitable for owners with multiple residences around the world.

6. Terminate at any time — Management does not require an annual commitment. The owner can end the agreement with one month’s advance notice.

7. Corporate housing — In addition to nightly rentals, we work with insurers and assignment companies to provide executives with hotel-style managed accommodation for stays longer than 30 days.

8. Transparent fees — For rentals longer than 30 days, we charge 15% of accommodation revenue. For nightly rentals under 30 days, we charge 20% of accommodation revenue.

Author’s tip: Personal views, for reference only.