Guest background check

[Aylin54]

Hello,

My association is asking me for a copy of the guest's background check. How can I go about obtaining that? I don't want to offend any guests but the association is not giving me an option.

[Pat271]

Your association is trying to curtail your ability to host, that much is clear. Having said that, I use KeyCheck.com when I have exceptionally long-stay guests. If you use this kind of service, I recommend getting signed permission for the credit/background check from your guests. You might get away with not getting permission, but may run into ethical and legal snags later if you don’t.

[Aylin54]

Thank you!!!

[Christine615]

I don't think they're trying to curtail the ability to host. I think they have a responsibility to the other homeowners. Certainly Airbnb implied they do background checks when our City Council was considering making STR's legal (something it appears they don't really do). One of the Councilwomen expressed concerns about STR's being in residential neighborhoods since STR's are highly transient. She specifically asked if they screen for felons, pedophiles, sex offenders, etc.  The person at the meeting said they do a background check on members. We found out quickly that isn't true when a felon was allowed to book a home stay with an older woman. She's now leaving the platform.

So the HOA's request seems reasonable given news reports about problems at other STR's.

[Pat271]

@Christine615 

So you think that background checks, signed off by the guest, should be performed by the host on every guest who requests to book? I think that’s the only way a host would be able to provide a copy to the HOA.

Or...maybe you think that Airbnb would just hand background checks to all hosts who ask. I don’t think that is even legal, but even if it was, how recent would the background checks need to be? Would Airbnb be performing background checks on all of their members every year, every few months, or just once at sign-up, which may have been years ago? Would the HOA accept a 10-year-old background check?

No, I think the HOA would require an up-to-date, certified background check, with permission signed by the guest, which means hosts would have to provide them for every guest and every booking. This seems excessive and quite impractical, which is why I think the major impetus of the HOA is to curtail STR hosting in general.

[Christine615]

@Pat271 

I think the whole thing would be burdensome, honestly. I agree it isn't practical for an STR.

It would be easier if Airbnb gave hosts all the information upfront instead of holding those cards close to their vest. 

With the rise of STR's in what were meant to be residential properties, I can see why an HOA would make it more difficult to use a condo or home for that purpose. There are so many irresponsible hosts or corporate absentee hosts that have made it hard for everyone else - hence these new blanket rules.

We don't have to do background checks in my city (because Airbnb "implied" they do one when it is now clear they don't check anything except if the guest has a credit card and is breathing). But we do have to have the written signatures of the majority of adjacent homeowners to get licensed (one spouse, for instance isn't enough - you need both spouses).

I think Airbnb should do the background checks. It's not that hard. When I was an LTR landlord I did them myself, but it was easy because most people requesting the apartment were local and I could check court records. I could also request a credit report.

I can't imagine anyone wanting to do that to rent an STR. I certainly wouldn't. Hotels don't ask that.

Still, I reiterate that a local woman who hosted in her home, was subjected to nudity and leud behavior by a guest that passed Airbnb's sign-up process. She was going to call the police but he left before she could. A few days later he was in the paper because he was in a 12-hour stand-off with a SWAT team who found meth and guns in his posession. The woman who was the host said she's leaving the platform (who could blame her).

Airbnb has still not responded to my concerns about how we prevent that in the future. A simple check would have shown this guy was a known felon. That should not be the host's responsibility if Airbnb is screening and directing business to hosts but withholding that information from us:

http://www.plattecountycitizen.com/theplattecountycitizen/price20112019

I can't imagine the rage I would have if an absentee host rented to this person and put them next to my family.

[Pat271]

@Christine615  I do agree with you that incidents like the one you describe would be a major underlying reason why an HOA would decide to require background checks. 

@Aylin54  I’m really sorry that you have to deal with this. The only solution I see is the one I suggested. Put a description in your listing that a background check is required by your HOA, use KeyCheck to get permission from the guest and run the check. This is all automated in the Keycheck app. You will not receive any details about findings; Keycheck simply issues a “Passed” or “Failed” result. This should be sufficient to alleviate any HOA concerns.