No last name on booking requests

[Amy-and-Stephen0]

We have been hosts on AirBnb for just 3 months. Not sure if this is new, but in the last few weeks we’ve received several booking requests but are unable to see guest last name (not profile pic, but I know that was a recent change to avoid discrimination). We like to run folks who are not pre approved through a basic online background check but that’s impossible without a last name. Is this a new development?

[Susan151]

@Amy-and-Stephen0  You will never be shown the last name until after the booking has been confirmed. I don't ever recall seeing a last name on either an inquiry or request.

[Anonymous]

@Amy-and-Stephen0  7 years on Airbnb, last names have never been revealed until confirmation. It is relatively new that they stopped displaying photos.

For the record, I strongly encourage some thoughtful screening of guests rather than Instant Book - especially if your personal home is involved. However, I don't find that an "online background check" is a better measure of what to expect than the quality of communication in the correspondence. Your best experiences will come from guests who immediately demonstrate enthusiasm for something about your listing, gain your confidence that they've read the details and understand your rules, and respond easily to follow-up questions. But they might be people who value their privacy over being easily found online, in which case your background check protocol won't be of much use.

[Amy-and-Stephen0]

Thanks for your thoughts Andrew. I could have sworn we previously had last names before, but those must have actually been Instant Books. We are trying to do a bare minimum of screening here. We don't care about political affiliations, sex orientation, race, any of that. We are trying to just make sure we aren't renting our condo to some convicted arsonists or similar serious criminal behavior. Even those who have been "verified" by Airbnb can't promise this. As we manage our property from afar, how do you do any kind of screening in advance? Of course we don't want our place trashed and we are trying to do what we can to head off any problem renters without being discriminatory. We've had enough new-to-Airbnb folks already (who so far have turned out to be great, respectful renters)... so we don't want to require previous reviews. What to do?

[Anonymous]

@Amy-and-Stephen0  I'm not suggesting any kind of demographic-based screening. I'm just saying that the way the guest communicates with you in the Request process is the best predictor of what kind of experience you're going to have. 

You're right that Airbnb can't guarantee that a guest has never been convicted of a crime, but neither can any of those "background check" websites. And even if they could, there's no evidence that guests with criminal records are any likelier to trash your property than guests without them. Generally I think other risk-reduction tactics are more useful here. Good homeowners insurance with STR coverage, no Instant Book, 3 nights minimum stay, a local co-host who actually meets the guests and manages issues - these things are far likelier to spare you from a disaster than Google is.