Does Arbnb verify age of guests?

[Rory85]

My house rules state guests must be 25 years old and I don't see or meet these people so I'm hoping Arbnb has a procedure in place.  I'm nervous about Halloween weekend.  Does anyone know the answer to this?  I couldn't find anything on the website.  Thank you!

[Anonymous]

@Rory85  Airbnb has already blocked 1-night stays for US listings over Halloween weekend. You might consider selecting a 3 or 4 night minimum to further reduce the risk.

It's very easy for a person under 25 to create a profile misrepresenting their age; the only point at which Airbnb collects supporting data on that is in the optional ID Verification. 

But if you're worried about parties and damage, never assume that Airbnb has a procedure in place to benefit you as the host! Their main procedure is to do damage control in the press whenever someone gets shot to death at an Airbnb party, send out press releases about all the new ways that they're cracking down on parties, and then rest on their laurels.

It is exclusively your job as host to keep control of the property and enforce rules in real time, before a violation can escalate to a major threat to your home and public safety.

[Rory85]

@Anonymous Thank you! Arbnb did contact them for me and they verified the age requirements I have on my listing.  I got very lucky and the group was very, very good. 

[Linda108]

I am in total agreement with @Anonymous  but I want to state in even stronger terms, do NOT trust the Air BNB platform for ANY guest vetting.  @Rory85  your home is very lovely and it shows all the love and effort you have put into it.  Starting a short term rental business in the middle of a pandemic is gutsy, but thus far you have great reviews and good luck with respectful guests.  Please stay on top of how your home is used by strangers.  Have in place a way to know how many people are in your home and whether your rules are being followed.  Don't trust that these strangers will always be as careful or considerate as you would be.  In short, this is a business.  Unfortunately you will find that Air BNB is not at the top of its game at this time.  The system makes many mistakes and the customer service is not up to par or even trained adequately.  I am not just bad mouthing Air BNB but I realize the limitations at this time while hoping the future will be better.  I only wish you the best of luck and hope you will enjoy being a host.

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Linda108, so true, I had a 1 out of 200 bad guest/ group a week ago that Im pretty sure used his dads ID or account to book us.  They self checked in l;ate, were noisy, smoking pot in the suite and other, when I woke for the 4th time and went to enlighten them, nobody that was visible looked like the older gentleman in the profile pic.  They did however drive expensive automobiles with MD plates on one of them!!!!!  We were lucky to be on site hosts cause I think this could have turned into a blow out party in the boonies if we hadn't.   We were lucky, they were bad not awful or horrible.  They got a very appropriate review, I have not seen one from them yet and probably wont. 

-Heres some good news, I logged a very complete description of the stay with the CS desk the next morning documenting the entire thing (I also took pics of the pot scraps and joint roach on the table) , they contacted me back very quickly and I had an excellent conversation with the agent and we both agreed on the appropriate solution.   That was much different than one or two I had a few months ago and good to see.  The CS Desk is our most important tool and they need to be  responsive as well as knowledgeable, Mary (Support Ambassador) was both!  Stay well, JR

[Rory85]

@Melodie-And-John0 Thanks for the feedback, Melodie.  Actually, I was prompted to ask my question on this site because the very 'sweet'' bridesmaid group that booked the previous weekend and assured me that they'd only be at the house to sleep and they'd be the kind of guests people dream of hosting were actually the exact opposite. 

They left glitter everywhere and a giant sign "Cheers bitches", balloons, spilled drinks, wet towels on floors and wet bars of soap on counters, heat blasting and windows open...you name it.  Oh...and the neighbor said every light was on until 6am.  Clearly, the bachelorette party was at my house on Thursday and then the wedding off-site for the remainder of the weekend, but my house must have been the after hours. 

These people asked if they could see the house before and I said yes, because I had never done this before.  The girl seemed polite and her mother was lovely.  I'm sure the mother would be mortified if she knew.  I was actually excited and slightly flattered that a bridal party was going to stay at my house.  What a sucker I was-HA!

[Sarah977]

I have to scratch my head wondering if when people portray themselves as the "kind of guests people dream of hosting" they are really that self-deluded or they just have zero qualms about lying or not bothering to clean up after themselves. 

Universal house rule- "NO GLITTER!"  

@Rory85

[Rory85]

@Linda108 Thanks, Linda.  I appreciate the feedback.  I am totally new to this and learning the ropes as I go along. I did get lucky as this group was VERY good, but the group before must have had a bachelorette celebration because we're still picking up glitter ALL over the place.  I even saw some on the street in front of my house and I don't ever want a repeat of that experience. I like to see people enjoy themselves, but I also expect people to be respectful.  However, I'm learning...

[Kelly149]

furthermore, abb does not believe that you should be able to distinguish between an 18YO and a 25YO.... unless of course you have HOA or insurance company reasons for doing so. 

Just because you yourself think that 25YOs are more responsible than 18YOs is not an adequate reason to shut out a high schooler with a credit card from booking your house, according to ABB.

**there is occasionally, imbedded in email correspondence with guests a small asterisk that tells me if a guest is over or under 25. I don't ever see it in the app or online... only in their first IB acceptance email.

I trust this not one iota. You really should be getting an actual ID from at least your main guest, if not all guests. Abb will never share this info with you and a profile name can say absolutely anything. Anything

[Rory85]

@Kelly149 Thanks. So I have started to re-state my house rules again when I receive a request so they are once again, fully aware that they should be 25 years old and no parties.  Hopefully, this will help.  My experiences, though it's only been a few, have all be really great with the exception of that one.

[Nash-Cottages-LLC0]

@Rory85 To get ahead of any parties, we have in our description something akin to this statement: If you are looking for a party house. we're not the place for you.

So far (knock on wood, cross fingers), we've been able to stay well ahead of the party scene. Being that upfront with language, in a firm manner, seems to have weeded folks out. Another host, who lives nearby 'borrowed' our language when she had a bachellorette party go awry.