Vacation Rentals of the Desert, a longtime property management company in Palm Desert, is facing serious allegations from dozens of property owners who claim they’re owed significant amounts of money—some in the tens of thousands of dollars.
One of those victims, Karen, says she’s out $13,000 and calls the situation “totally criminal.” She believes the company knowingly issued checks that would bounce and should be investigated by the California Department of Real Estate for misusing client trust funds and commingling accounts.
Another homeowner, John Cummings, owns property at Rancho Las Palmas Country Club and shared his story with NBC Palm Springs. Cummings said he had worked with the company for six or seven years without issue, but payments began arriving late in January. By February, checks were bouncing.
Vacation Rentals of the Desert claimed it was due to bank fraud, but Cummings and others noticed inconsistencies. “Their story kept changing—from wire transfers to check fraud, to someone hacking their payment portal,” he said.
Cummings dug deeper and found out the company may have had a financing arrangement with Soho Capital Partners, a commercial lender that may have exercised rights under a loan agreement if Vacation Rentals of the Desert defaulted. Still, he suspects some of the missing money may have been pocketed by the company itself.
Estimates suggest the company may owe more than $1 million to 40 to 60 property owners and renters.
Initially, victims were told by Riverside County authorities that the matter was civil, not criminal. But after NBC Palm Springs aired the first report on the issue, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office has now indicated they will take a second, more serious look at the case.
“This is not a civil case,” one viewer wrote. “It appears to be embezzlement. Each reporting victim is one count. The counts will add up.”
Fred Roggin told Cummings during their conversation, “Some people involved in this got an email from the Riverside County DA this morning. After our report, they’re going to seriously take a look at this—not just call it civil.”
The DA’s change in stance offers hope to those who say they’ve been ignored and dismissed—until now.
NBC Palm Springs will continue investigating this developing story.
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By: Fred Roggin
May 2, 2025
