Medium Term Rental , Los Angeles- scam inquiries on Bnb or legit?

[Richard E.]

Listmates,

I have been doing STRs for a few years now , here and there in LA, Joshua Tree, and some of the mountain communities.

I own an MTR in Los Angeles. Its not in the greatest area, it is north east los angeles, but more east than north (Northern end of Lincoln Heights for those familiar). I have done well for a year or so, then last three months, have been basically dead, except for a few leads that didn't pan out for reasons not relevant here.

QUESTION- Over the past few months I have had alot of "suspicious" seeming leads- people with no reviews, who just joined, clearly not english speakers- many of whom have the same "pitch", making me think they might be bots of some sort. I followed up on a few of the earlier ones and they made me kind of uncomfortable, as they would not subject themselves to any sort of screening processes, wanted to do business outside the platforms, etc.

However, I am continuing to get more of these- and i am thinking that maybe just because these people are not native speakers (chinese i believe they mostly are) that maybe I am just misunderstanding them and/or miscomunicating andd it is possible they are legit?

Even though they "feel" kind of "scammy", it could just be a communication thing, and I can't really figure out what the "scam" would even be really, as I have never played the scenario out with one of these people.

I am curious if anyone else in the LA Area- or any MTR area I guess- has similar experiences with these sorts of inquiries, which have been popping up lately- and if anyone knows about them/can shed some light on their legitimacy/nonlegitimacy.

Any info appreciated- my vacancy right now is killing me on this property--and it was solid for a year, now vacant like 3 months.