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]

@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.

[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.

[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....