My policy is to require a complete profile before booking. New profiles are fine (since they may not have used Airbnb before). My bookings are really low so I was tempted to accept a reservation for four days - supposed family. It was a brand new profile with only a phone number verified. The inquiry went through regardless of my settings. I asked the guest to complete his profile. He added only an email address but not govt ID. I explained that he still hadn't added the ID and said "I'm sure you understand" Here is his reply: "Of course....unfortunately. 🙂 " I'm not quite sure what he is saying there but as yet he hasn't done it.
Another recent inquiry a guest did not say anything about the stay but only "what the check in process is like". I asked to her clarify since it's already in my listing. She then says she sees it's self check in but then asks about whether it's a lock box etc. I can see where she's from - same state as me (but not where the home is) and it's a really, really, bad area (gangs, drive by shootings, etc). So I said that if she was worried about getting in I would be close by...crickets.
So my question is do you require a verified ID? If not, why not? I feel that if someone isn't willing to verify who they are there could be a problem. Am I being paranoid?
