Verify ID and extended stay requests

[Cj4]

I am very new to airbnb and I have several reservations coming up soon.  I recently received a three week request.  That's seems a little long for me being really new to the scene so I'm a little unsure if I would like to accept.  I tried to see what the person was like but, it looks like she just signed up last month and only has a profile picture.  I just changed my settings to verify id to book.  Since I did this after she requested to book is it still going to ask her to verify or is that only for people that request in the future? What are everyone's thoughts on hosting for a long period of time when just starting airbnb?  

[Ash-and-Dasha0]

Just decline the reservation request. If you are new, and the guest is new, it's probably not the best combination. Cancelling an already existing reservation imposes penalties on you. But declining an inquiry is much easier with no consequences. 

[Tamara39]

I was wondering about that too. Someone contacted me to inquire about renting our travel trailer from September 30 through January. That makes me nervous as they would be using it for various people whom I would not know or be able to vet first.

[Melanie58]

I had the same thing happen when I first started.  Someone requested for two weeks (I had my max stay set to two weeks).  In my case, the person was local to the area.  I ran their name, and they had quite a long record related to alcohol/dui/forgery.  I am guessing because it is quite hard to get a rental in our area, the person was trying to find a place to stay despite her record.  I declined the guest.  You can contact customer service for assistance if you would like, and you can message them and ask what they are doing for three weeks.