Truvi x Escapia Cuts Fraud Across 90 Denver Rental Properties

“We rarely need to open tickets with Truvi. Typically, if something isn’t working correctly, it comes directly to me. Fortunately, we just haven’t experienced many issues. “

Marilyn Triassi, VP of Operations, Vacation Rental Collective

Vacation Rental Collective manages around 800 properties across 15 markets, from ski towns in Colorado to waterfront homes in Southwest Florida. The company has been on Escapia since its founding – its trust accounting and market-specific office structure are central to how the business operates – with Truvi integrating into VRC’s Denver market to screen guests across roughly 90 properties, where previously fraud and guest risk ran much higher than elsewhere in the portfolio.

VP of Operations Marilyn Triassi‘s career spans 35 years in resort management and operations before moving into vacation rentals. Her career spans resort and convention operations, with extensive expertise in hospitality leadership, guest experience, and revenue strategy – including building a revenue management department from the ground up. She joined VRC in a consulting capacity in 2018 and has been with the company full time since 2023. When she evaluates whether a piece of software is working, she knows what good looks like.

A fraud problem with a specific shape

VRC’s Denver portfolio is urban, varied, and attracts shorter booking windows than the company’s mountain and waterfront markets. That combination created conditions for fraud and guest risk that other markets in the portfolio simply do not see to the same degree.

“Denver was the market experiencing the highest level of fraud,” Marilyn explains. “It’s a more urban market with shorter-term bookings, which naturally led to more fraud alerts. The portfolio is also much more diverse, with studios, one-bedroom apartments, and other smaller accommodations that can attract a different type of traveler. They really needed the ability to screen guests more effectively to help protect both the properties and the business from fraudulent bookings.” 

The decision to bring Truvi in was practical. VRC already ran on Escapia and needed a screening solution that integrated cleanly with it. The connection worked, the Denver team got up and running, and the market has run more quietly since.

Integration that fits how VRC is built

VRC’s relationship with Escapia goes back to the company’s founding. Its CFO and CEO sit on Escapia’s customer advisory board, and the platform’s trust accounting is central to how the business operates financially. Equally important is Escapia’s ability to divide properties into market-specific offices, giving each team visibility into only their own properties and reservations.

“The ability to segment by office was and is absolutely essential—it was a non-negotiable for us,” Marilyn says. “Each market can filter down to just their own properties and reservations, allowing teams to stay focused on what they manage while maintaining the flexibility to operate independently.” 

That structure shaped how Truvi was deployed. Rather than rolling it across the full portfolio, VRC distributed the Denver properties into Truvi specifically, keeping the integration contained within the market that needed it.

“At this point, Denver is our only market using Truvi. I was able to configure the integration so that only Denver’s properties flow into the platform, allowing that team to manage guest screening without impacting any of our other markets.” 

Marilyn is candid that the initial setup had some friction, largely the result of moving quickly rather than any product limitation. Once the Denver team was live, the issues resolved themselves.

“The initial setup had a few bumps along the way, but I was also implementing it on the fly and moving pretty quickly. Once everything was in place and the team was live, it became a very smooth process. Since then, we really haven’t had any complaints.”

The measure that matters: no escalations

“I’ve seen onboarding be much more complicated with other platforms. With Truvi, it was a smooth process, and our property information has flowed through without any issues.” 

For someone in Marilyn’s position, the clearest signal that a piece of software is working is the absence of escalations. Her role means she is typically the person problems reach when something breaks. With Truvi, they have not been reaching her.

“We rarely have to open a support ticket with Truvi. If an issue does come up, it typically comes directly to me, but fortunately, those situations have been few and far between. We haven’t received guest complaints, the information flows through as expected, and the platform has been a real help to our team.” 

That positive experience has become even more apparent as VRC has implemented other technology solutions across the business. While every platform has its own onboarding process and learning curve, Truvi was straightforward to configure and, once in place, required very little ongoing attention.

Even when another platform VRC already uses introduced its own guest screening solution, the Denver team chose to remain with Truvi. They were confident in the system they had in place and saw no reason to make a change.

Fewer problems, less conversation

“The Denver team has been very pleased with Truvi,” Marilyn says. “Since implementing it, I’ve noticed there’s been much less conversation around fraud and damage concerns. Those issues just don’t come up as often with the Denver team anymore.” 

For a VP of Operations managing 15 markets, less conversation about a problem is a meaningful data point. Operational issues surface. Good infrastructure runs quietly.

What hotel operations taught her about vacation rentals

Marilyn doesn’t think the two industries are as different as the vacation rental sector sometimes likes to believe. She sees STR following a path hotels have already walked, running about 15 to 20 years behind.

“The whole book-direct movement isn’t new,” Marilyn says. “We were doing it in the hotel industry 15 to 20 years ago to compete with online travel agencies like Travelocity, Orbitz, and Expedia. Today, vacation rentals are applying many of those same strategies to encourage guests to book directly instead of through Airbnb or Vrbo.”

Another best practice VRC brought over from the hotel industry is its use of independent inspectors. After every clean, a separate team member walks the property before it is marked guest-ready, providing an additional layer of quality assurance.

“I love having an independent inspector go through the home and double-check everything,” Marilyn says. “I’m not sure every company does that, but I think it’s incredibly important. That extra set of eyes helps ensure we’re delivering the experience we promised our guests.”

The logic is the same one that applies to guest screening. Truvi running on every Denver booking is not something the team has to remember to do or decide on booking by booking. It is built into how the market operates, which is how protection works when it actually works.

Protecting properties at scale starts with infrastructure that fits

Truvi integrates directly with Escapia to screen guests automatically across your markets, with no disruption to your existing workflow.

Get started with Truvi today.