Home > Blog > TrustedHouseSitters New Report a Listing Feature: What to Know
| Quick Facts | |
|---|---|
| Feature launched | June 8, 2026 |
| What it does | Allows sitters to report problem listings directly from within the listing |
| Daily reporting limit | A cap is expected — exact number unconfirmed at time of publication |
| Who benefits most | Sitters encountering exploitative listings, scams, or unfair exchanges |
| Why it matters for homeowners | Removes bad actors and makes genuine listings more visible |
TrustedHouseSitters has launched a long-requested feature that lets sitters report problem listings directly from within the listing itself. No more navigating to support, no lengthy contact forms. If a listing is asking for payment, misrepresenting the sit, or is clearly free labour in disguise, sitters can now flag it in seconds. This is a meaningful step forward for the platform and for the community.
This article was published on the day the feature launched. Some details, including the exact daily reporting limit, are yet to be officially confirmed by THS. We will update as further information becomes available.
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What the Feature Actually Does
The report feature sits directly inside a listing. When a sitter encounters a listing that violates THS terms of service, they can flag it from that page without leaving the platform, navigating to support, or filling out a separate contact form.
Previously, reporting a problematic listing meant going through THS support manually. It was time-consuming and friction-heavy enough that many sitters simply did not bother. Caro and I personally remember encountering a listing in France that had no pets at all. The homeowner was running what amounted to a small estate with multiple rooms renting at around €1,500 per week per room, and they were looking for a couple to maintain the entire property including gardens and communal areas for free. Reporting it took somewhere between ten and twenty minutes. That friction was enough to make us think twice before reporting anything again in the future, which is exactly the wrong outcome for platform integrity.
A one-click or minimal-step report function changes that calculation entirely.
What Took So Long
This feature has been requested by the THS community for years. As far back as 2022, sitters on the forum were asking for a report button directly on listings, pointing out that the absence of one meant the community was effectively policing listings themselves by raising issues on the forum one by one.
It is better now than never, and the fact that it has arrived is genuinely good news. But the honest read is that this should have existed much earlier. The THS community has been doing voluntary moderation work for years by flagging listings informally through forum posts and support tickets. Formalising that process into a proper in-platform tool is the right move, and the platform deserves credit for building it. It just took longer than it should have.
What Listings Should Actually Be Reported
Not every listing you disagree with or find unappealing is a reporting matter. The feature is for genuine violations, and using it responsibly means understanding the difference.
Listings that warrant a report include homeowners asking sitters for payment or a deposit of any kind, listings that describe what is clearly a full-time employment arrangement disguised as a free exchange, sits requiring a sitter to be physically present with a pet for twenty-four hours a day with no breaks, listings where the dog walking requirements are so extreme — six hours daily, for example — that the arrangement is unpaid labour rather than a fair exchange, and listings that appear to be scams with no genuine property or pets involved.
The France listing we described above is a clear example. No pets. Multiple paying guests. Ongoing estate maintenance. That is not house sitting. That is employment, and whoever posted it was either deliberately misusing the platform or entirely unaware of what THS is for. Either way it does not belong there.
The broader picture is that there are homeowners on TrustedHouseSitters who treat the platform as a source of free labour rather than a community of fair exchange. These listings harm the platform for everyone. They dilute the genuine listings, frustrate sitters who wade through them, and make it harder for honest homeowners to attract good applicants. The difference between house sitting and unpaid labour is something the community has discussed for years, and this feature gives sitters a direct mechanism to act on it.
| Issue | Example | Report? |
|---|---|---|
| Requesting payment or deposit | "Please transfer €200 to secure the sit" | Yes — immediately |
| Free labour disguised as house sitting | No pets, full estate maintenance, paying guests on site | Yes — clear violation |
| Around-the-clock pet presence required | "Sitter must be with the dog at all times, no exceptions" | Yes — not a fair exchange |
| Excessive daily dog walking | Six or more hours of walking per day with no flexibility | Yes — crosses into paid employment |
| Significant property maintenance | Mowing large grounds, pool maintenance, cleaning multiple rental units | Yes — beyond reasonable scope |
| Multiple pets undisclosed or severely understated | Listing says one cat, property has eight animals | Yes — misrepresentation |
| No actual property or pets | Vague listing, no photos, requests personal details or payment upfront | Yes — likely a scam |
| Demanding sit with no accommodation offered | Daytime-only care required, sitter must find own accommodation | Yes — not a house sit |
| Listing with inaccurate or misleading photos | Photos clearly do not match the property description | Yes — misrepresentation |
| Unreasonable expectations clearly stated | "Sitter must be available by phone at all hours including nights" | Yes — worth flagging |
| Demanding listing but accurately described | Long daily walks clearly stated, full transparency given | No — skip it, do not report |
| Sit you simply do not want | Too remote, wrong dates, not your kind of pet | No — just move on |
| Listing that seems expensive for the area | Nice home in a desirable location with basic pet care | No — not a violation |
Why This Is Good News for Genuine Homeowners Too
This point is easy to miss but worth making clearly. If you are a homeowner who has struggled to attract applications, the removal of bad actor listings from the platform is directly in your interest.
When the platform is cluttered with listings that ask for too much, pay too little, or are outright scams, experienced sitters become more selective. They apply less, they skip anything that feels risky, and they gravitate toward the listings they already know and trust. A cleaner platform with fewer exploitative listings means your genuine, fair listing stands out more.
Our article on why homeowners are not getting applications on THS covers the full picture of what makes a listing attractive to serious sitters. Removing the noise around it is one piece of that.
The Daily Limit and Why It Exists
From initial conversations, we have been made aware that THS is likely to introduce a cap on how many listings a single sitter can report per day. The exact number has not been officially confirmed at time of publication and we will update this article when it is.
The cap makes sense. Without one, there is a real risk that organised groups use the feature to mass-report listings they simply find unappealing or competitive rather than listings that genuinely violate terms. This is not a hypothetical. House sitting communities on Reddit and forums are active and well-organised. The moment a report button exists, the possibility of coordinated reporting campaigns exists alongside it. Giving people unlimited daily reports would almost certainly produce exactly that.
A daily cap keeps the tool meaningful. It encourages sitters to prioritise the listings that are genuinely problematic rather than flagging anything that feels slightly off. It also means the volume of reports hitting THS support remains manageable enough to review properly rather than becoming an unprocessable flood.
What we would hope to see from THS on the back end is a process where flagged homeowners receive a notification explaining the concern and a window, perhaps twenty-four hours, to edit the listing and bring it into compliance before any removal or ban is applied. Permanent action without any opportunity to correct a misunderstanding would be too blunt an instrument, particularly for new homeowners who may genuinely not understand where the line sits. For repeat offenders or clear scams, a faster and more permanent response would be appropriate.
How to Use It Responsibly
The feature works best when the community treats it as a quality tool rather than a complaint mechanism.
Before reporting a listing, ask whether it genuinely violates THS terms of service or whether it is simply not the right fit for you. A sit with very demanding dog care requirements is not automatically a violation if the homeowner has described it accurately. A sit that is clearly misrepresented, asks for money, or requires labour that goes far beyond what house sitting covers is a different matter entirely.
The house sitting versus unpaid labour article gives a clear framework for where the line sits. The what house sitters can and cannot change article covers the scope of reasonable responsibilities. Both are useful reference points if you are unsure whether something rises to the level of a report.
The TrustedHouseSitters conflict resolution guide covers what THS can and cannot investigate at a platform level, which is useful context for understanding what your report is actually likely to trigger.
What This Means for the Platform Long Term
This feature has the potential to do more than just remove individual bad listings. If enough sitters use it consistently and THS processes the reports well, it becomes a form of community-driven quality control that scales in a way that manual moderation never could.
There is also a cost efficiency argument. A well-functioning report system, where the community flags obvious violations and THS reviews them in batches, reduces the support load significantly compared to individual emails and contact forms. Whether THS uses the volume of reports to improve AI moderation of listings, to train internal review systems, or simply to action removals manually, the data generated by sitter reports is genuinely useful to the platform in ways that go beyond individual cases.
The house sitting community has been asking for tools like this for years. The TrustedHouseSitters self-cancellation feature and the blind review system were both responses to long-standing community requests. This one follows the same pattern. It suggests THS is paying attention, even if the response sometimes takes longer than the community would like.
Conclusion
The report a listing feature is a genuine improvement to TrustedHouseSitters and one the community has wanted for a long time. Use it for listings that actually violate the platform's terms. Be specific about what the issue is. And trust that a cleaner platform benefits every serious sitter and every genuine homeowner equally.
Caro and I have completed 20 house sits across 12 countries, driven 19,000km across Europe in our 1998 VW T4, and saved over $26,500 in accommodation costs. If you have questions about the new feature or want to share what you have been reporting, send us a message on Instagram — we read every DM.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the new TrustedHouseSitters report listing feature?
It allows sitters to flag problem listings directly from within the listing page, without contacting support separately. Previously, reporting required navigating to support and filling out a contact form, which was slow enough that many sitters did not bother. The new feature reduces that to a few taps, making it practical to report listings that ask for payment, misrepresent the sit, or cross into unpaid labour territory.
What kinds of listings should I report on TrustedHouseSitters?
Listings that genuinely violate THS terms of service: requests for payment or deposits, listings that describe unpaid employment rather than a fair exchange, sits requiring around-the-clock sitter presence with no breaks, and anything that appears to be a scam. A listing you find unappealing or too demanding is not automatically a violation. The question is whether the listing misrepresents the sit, exploits the free exchange model, or involves something that should be paid work.
Will there be a daily limit on how many listings I can report?
From initial conversations, a daily cap on reports per sitter is expected, though the exact number has not been officially confirmed by THS at the time of publication. The limit exists to prevent coordinated mass-reporting campaigns where groups flag listings they simply dislike rather than listings that violate terms. We will update this article when THS confirms the details.
Why did it take TrustedHouseSitters so long to introduce this feature?
The community has been requesting it since at least 2022, so the honest answer is that it should have arrived earlier. That said, it is better late than never, and the feature is genuinely useful now that it exists. THS has a track record of eventually acting on community feedback, including the blind review system and the self-cancellation feature, even when the response takes longer than members would like.
How does the report feature benefit homeowners?
By removing exploitative and misleading listings, it makes genuine listings more visible to serious sitters. When the platform is cluttered with listings asking for too much or operating as scams, experienced sitters become more selective and apply less broadly. A cleaner platform means your fair, well-written listing competes against fewer bad actors and attracts more of the applicants you actually want.
What should TrustedHouseSitters do after a listing is reported?
Ideally, flagged homeowners should receive a notification explaining the issue and a short window to edit their listing and bring it into compliance before any removal or ban is applied. Permanent action without an opportunity to correct a misunderstanding would be too blunt, particularly for new homeowners who may not understand the platform's fair exchange principles. Repeat offenders and clear scams warrant faster and more permanent responses.
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