Until earlier this year we always had our listing set for 1 day advance notice, then decided to remove that to get more bookings. A few months ago we had a request at 10pm on a Saturday night for 1 person. The guest was new to Airbnb, friendly in their message, lived fairly nearby and no reviews. We were home and our room (detached from house) was available, so we accepted. We gave instructions to get in and never actually met him during his stay. Before check out time the next morning they (turned out it was 2 people, not 1) requested to stay an additional night.
Mid day on Sunday I had a fraud alert on a credit card. When I went to find my wallet I realized I had very stupidly left it in my car, in our closed garage, when rushing the day before. Our pool room is adjacent to our garage where my car was parked.
Long story short, this guest stole 3 credit cards and my cash. He must have quickly sold them as police tracked down security footage from nearby stores where purchases were made, but it was a different individual using them. Our guest room has a door adjacent to garage, but no sign prohibiting entrance. I provided Police with our outdoor security footage and Airbnb correspondence. They got his fingerprints off my car, but still didn't have enough to arrest him despite him having multiple felony convictions for similar crimes.
Credit card companies were all great and I didn't have to pay anything.
I've had letters from 5 credit card companies asking me to provide information to open the new credit cards that "I" requested, so now I'm dealing with identity theft.
The few people I spoke with at Airbnb were friendly and placating. They didn't provide any explanation of how this felon is allowed in their system and no apologies. When I asked specific questions in my emails with their customer service about safety and screening, they simply didn't reply.
The only thing they did do was remove the guests very kind review of us. I didn't want him associated with us.
By the way, we did not review him. As much as we would have liked to alert other guests, quite honestly we didn't want retaliation (especially with him living nearby). I was hoping Airbnb would have done something to remove him, but don't think they have.
I have now read things saying last minute bookings, especially late at night, can often be shady especially when the person lives in the area. I realize some are probably great people that have last minute plans, but then they can go to a hotel where guests are accepted 24 hours.
Despite losing some potential guests we have now changed our requirements to be much stricter:
At least 1 day notice
Must have previous reviews
Must have a clear photo of themselves on their bio
Must tell us what's bringing them to the area
Must give me the full name of any guest coming with them
Since hosts can no longer see photos until after accepting a reservation we have these requirements clearly stated on our listing and I mention them immediately when responding to inquiries. If they don't like it they can find another place to stay. I've had a few probably very nice guests without reviews that I've now turned down. The photo of the guest who burglarized us did not show his face.
After this happened I did an internet search with the guests full name and found alarming & derogatory photos & information on Facebook and public records. Hosts don't get the full name until after accepting a reservation, but if a host is ever uncomfortable or suspicious of a guest it would be worth searching and then canceling. Had I seen all this ahead of time I would not have allowed this stranger into my home. (His friendly correspondence was misleading).
This is usually our busiest time of year and our bookings are down, so I'm sure declining a few guests has bumped us down on the listings in the area. Oh well.
A few bookings that I've accepted initially had photos of their pets or group photos and I've asked that they send a clear personal photo. Everyone has been perfectly fine with that.
We really hate that this one bad guest out of our 100+ great ones has caused us to be less trusting, but our safety and peace of mind comes first. We no longer have confidence that Airbnb does due diligence in screening.
On the "Does Airbnb perform background checks on members? page
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1308/does-airbnb-perform-background-checks-on-members
I was shocked to read "If we have enough information (usually at least the user’s first and last name, plus date of birth) to identify a guest or host who lives in the United States, we check certain databases of public state and county criminal records"
Does that mean they have members who they don't have their full name and date of birth?
I'm sharing all this simply to remind hosts to be mindful when allowing strangers into your home. I wish I hadn't had this wake up call, but feeling uneasy in my own home isn't worth any amount of money.
Be safe.