Although not something that you normally consider, the vacation rental industry is rampant with scams. There are countless accounts of vacation rentals gone wrong. According to The Seattle Times, in 2013, “HomeAway, which owns VRBO [the largest vacation rental website in the U.S.] and has a commanding market share among vacation-rental websites, reported 3,000 phishing cases as of last fall.”¹ However, there are companies that are building safeguards to prevent such scams.

SafelyStay is one such company. SafelyStay is doing for the vacation rental industry what PayPal did for eBay. That is, adding an element of trust into the equation. Here is how their service is described:

SafelyStay pioneered the first dedicated clearinghouse for the peer-to-peer vacation rental industry. Instant reservations are powered through a system of safeguards including identity verification, criminal checks, insurance and secure payments, to provide trust and security to both guests and vacation homeowners in each reservation.
Distribution system, travel agency, and vacation rental marketplace partners can now provide instant and safe vacation home reservations.. and earn ancillary revenue.²

During the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) Technology Showcase last Thursday, we had a chance to speak with Lui King who is in charge of operations for SafelyStay. Lui told us a bit more about the company, and the need for such a company: