Is this request for our passport info legitimate?

Hello

 As you are renting a legally registered apt with a Tourist Licence ( which is a good thing)....the owners are required to register the details of every  renter with the local police with arrival dates etc, it is a requirement of them being  license holders, so they are complying with the law.

Cheers

Elinspain

I would be very wary of sending any information to someone other than via the company you arranged the rental through, if anything goes wrong in all probability VBRO may say they are not responsible as you replied direct to a 3rd party.

It might be perfectly legitimate, but I would get confirmation from VRBO first before sending any personal details. 

Our thoughts exactly!  I am much more inclined to send the information via the communication link on VRBO than I am sending that information in an email.  Having my identity stolen in the past has made me VERY wary of giving out this information in such an easily hackable format.  Thanks!

I have a rental and most, although not all, of that information is required by the owner to register your ARRIVAL at the property on the Policia Nacional portal.

I collect the information when I meet my guests at the property. I have never been refused it. 

Specifically the information needed for registration is

Names, nationality, dates of birth, sex, passport or ID card number if EU citizen, passport issue date, date of arrival, date of departure. 

The information has to be logged by the owner or their agent, VRBO etc will not do it for you.

Steve

Thank you for your response.  Apparently, the request is legitimate.  Our hesitation is sending the information to an email address.  We offered to provide the information upon our arrival, but the owners have an agent who they do not wish to burden with the responsibility of gathering this info.  We will contact them and request that all communication and transfer of information be completed through the VRBO app.

You can try, but I don't think VRBO will want to know. Sorry if that's not what you want to hear.

I would say it's wrong to insist on this information pre arrival as some technical data could change prior to arrival, eg passport number. They are trying to do the admin ahead of time.

Unless you're fixated on the property you've booked, and depending on cancellation terms, why not consider an alternative...

Steve

If you stay in hotel your passport is scanned and the information submitted to the the register.  If you stay in a legal let then that information has to be submitted.  The owners (or property manager) therefore must be given the information by law.  VRBO are just an advertising website that also handles the payments, they have no ability to process the passport info and no authority to do so.

Frankly if you were not being told you will need to supply passport details of all those age 16 years and above I would be worried.  All legal lets have to submit this information within 24 hours of your arrival.  However there should be a GDPR clause on the contract explaining how the information will be used, who it will be shared with and how long the info will be stored.  We collect the info in advance - which has proved fortuitous for a guest who had insufficient time left on her passport and didn't realise, so they wouldn't have been able to travel.  As it was, they were able to get a new passport in time (just!).  As for the two mobile numbers, that is to ensure that you can be contacted in an emergency,so not sure why you would not want someone to know them.