It's not foolproof, but asking other investors in your area who they are using almost always gets us started on the right foot.  

Lean on other real estate investors in your market on who they use - it's not foolproof but working with someone that another investor already had great experience with is a good starting place.Hope all of that makes sense.

If you're the type of investor to leave lucrative vacation rental investment to luck, then this post is not for you..It is intended for those that are looking for a fool proof strategy and tips to finding, assessing and buying an STR in the mid to near term. 1.

Using another investors recommendation is not foolproof of course but it has worked time and time again. 

And while nothing is foolproof, that's usually the best way to start.

Nothing is fool proof.

So DEPOSIT slips , containing your bank account number and having the tenant want into your bank to make the deposit is 100% fool proof.

Now, nothing is foolproof, but leaning on other real estate investors in your specific market still has the highest success rate out of anything.  

All I can suggest here is that you make sure you have a fool-proof method of communication for your tenants to prevent this from happening again.

This isn't foolproof but it's got the highest success rate to it.