Asking your guests to file a Government Issue I.D. with Air B&B

[Manuela130]

I have been renting my home for just a few months and for security reasons I ask all my guests to please file a government issued identification with AirB&B. I have noticed that all my guests are more then happy to do so however AirB&B is not making this process very easy for them and they have a lot of problems finding how to do this.

The only way that AirB&B makes this easily accessible is if the host selects the choice to allow everyone that initially filed a government issued i.d to be pre-approved for any rental without the host approval. Which I don't think is a good idea, personally I like to have a contact exchange about my guests this helps us both know a little about each other - it's a nice thing.

Since this is my home I'd like to know that our guests have had some sort of authentication that  they are who they say they are, this  brings me a sense of security and it's no different from what hotels require when one checks in. 

Setting up an email address and setting up a facebook account which is all that AirB&B requires is by no means a safe verification of who the person really is. 

If AirB&B really cares about the security of all hosts and guests, they really should make this process easier for everybody!

The fact that this has become such an issue makes one not want to participate in this process. I am curious about how other hosts feel about this issue and have to question why AirB&B is making this so hard?

[Rebecca181]

I am quite confused. As a new host, I followed the verification process, since I was asking any prospective guests to get verified to book my property. I was not asked for a goverment-issued photo ID during this verification process. Just now I checked and Airbnb says I have completed the verification process - As if I have done everything required. But I did not submit an ID, as I was not asked to do so. So how many Airbnb users have profiles that say they have completed the verification process, leading hosts to believe they have submitted a government-issued photo ID - when in fact (like me) they have NOT?! This does not give me peace of mind or a sense of security / safety as a host inviting virtual (literally) strangers into my home.

[Andrea9]

@Rebecca181

When you go to your listing and hover over your profile at the bottom, does it say you verified ID?

A new guest probably won't be as savvy either, but if you ever book as guest, you'll at least now know how to check for this.

[Rebecca181]

@Andrea9 - Yes, it does. I had the option to submit ID or do other forms of verification (answering personal questions, etc). I chose the latter. I am now green-checkmarked verified, without submitting any kind of government-issued ID. As a new host, I had my first booking request last week. I saw the verification green checkmark and assumed he had given Airbnb his government-issued ID. However, I decided to call Airbnb to check. There was a lot of hemming and hawing and meetings about my question and then I was notified that the gentleman requesting the reservation had NOT submitted a government-issued photo ID. So now I do not feel very secure with the verification process required for Instant Booking. It seems that people can Instant Book without having submitted any kind of government-issued photo ID. This concerns me, as one of the main reasons I chose Instant Booking was to have the security of knowing that the person booking had submitted some form of government-issued photo ID.

[Andrea9]

@Rebecca181

" I am now green-checkmarked verified, without submitting any kind of government-issued ID."

Thanks for clarifying. Well, certainly goes to show how Airbnb always retracts a step once they get hosts to accept another automation. And what they say in their Terms of operation that they are only enablers (or something to that extent) of contact betw. guest and host is becoming ever more clear.

Onlt thing you can do if you want IB is to google guests' names once you get them and see what pops up.  Then if you get real doubts, you can cancel because you feel uncomfortable - BUT don't just press cancel button, ALWAYS involve Airbnb first! Best call them directly.

Then also include in your House Rules that there will be ID check upon arrival, and take note of their data, maybe take a pic of their ID if it's allowed where you are (not allowed here in Netherlands). You can always say it's according to short term rental regulations.

Bad guests know that with that you'll always have enough to involve police if need be, so they usually look for less 'controlled' listings, usually those without security deposits....

[Manuela130]

I am not a fan of instant booking for the following reasons. When I first signed up I checked this box because AirB&B was recommending it. When I contacted the first person who instant booked my place to get more information I found out that it was a student who wanted the apartment for making a film. Being in the industry this is not something I would ever want to happen in my personal home, I explained to him about my concerns and denied it. 

This whole process took a lot of my time to straighten out and then AirB&B used my cancelation as a strike against me. I immediately canceled instant booking as a result of my experience. NOT recommended.

[Paulo106]

The thing is this verification is only for the first guest we dont no nothing about the second person or sometimes the third person i think bnb need ask the information about this people too

[Cynthia-and-Chris1]

@Paulo106  If you'd like each guest to be verified by Airbnb, you can request that the booking guest ADD their travel companions to the reservation.  That means each person will need to create an Airbnb profile and you can check to see if each has completed verification.

[Farah1]

@Cynthia-and-Chris1 I checked and yes I can see it in the reservation confirmation/itinerary. Thank you for the tips!

[Farah1]

@Cynthia-and-Chris1 once we asked the guest to add the travel companions, where can we see the travel companions' profile? Is it under the reservation? I realized that when I was about to leave a review for one of my recent guests, there was a picture/profile of his girlfriend under his and it also says please leave a review for X & Y and not only X.

[Farah1]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, @Paulo106 . I believe if let's say I book a hotel room for me and my husband and the reservation is made by me under my name. When I check-in, they only ask for my ID and not my husband's. Based on how I understand is that the person who makes the reservation is responsible for their group. I've heard some hosts asking the guest to present ID when they check-in, so this can be an option.

[Paulo106]

Hi @Farah1 im already have this verification but when you go to a hotel everybody need fill form and present id on bnb only the first guest i think all the persons need be verified for our security 

[Farah1]

@Paulo106 yes I agree, I'd be very happy to know that all my guests are verified. I think I will take a look at the suggestion from @Cynthia-and-Chris1

[Zacharias0]

You can make them file a gov't ID. but should you need that information for filing a police report I've read many times where AirBnB wont provide that information to the host. Furthermore, the guest can file the gov't ID but choose an entirely different name for their profile. One of my recent guest chose a name from a character in a movie, had a cartoon representation of himself as his picture and had 0 reviews. It didn't make me uneasy, but for some hosts I can see how that would be the case. We all like to know who we are inviting into our homes and places where we sleep. Sometimes we just have to take a leap of faith.

Its amazing what we are willing to do for the sake of making money. Our guard goes down and we invite complete strangers into our homes.

[Cynthia-and-Chris1 · Accepted solution]

@Manuela130  If you would like your guest to be verified, just send them the link to the verification section.

https://www.airbnb.com/verify

Easy peasy.

[Manuela130]

Thank you , this is helpful and I will add to my listing!

[Farah1]

@Manuela130 , @Cynthia-and-Chris1 is right. I still received inquiries/requests from guests without verified ID even though I wrote it in both my listings and profile that a verified ID is required. So, I already have a template of "Please verified your ID, go to www.airbnb.com/verify and follow the steps" then all of them usually do it right away except this one time the guest said that she does not want to give her ID to airbnb (not sure why), so I had airbnb "canceled" her reservation request because I did not want to decline it to affect my search rank/rate.

[Manuela130]

Thank you - not sure how I missed this. I will add to my listing!