Can you ask for Govt. Photo Ids (Insider are you still on the forum)

Addresses are one of the easiest things to get hold of. Not sure what you mean.

https://www.tad.org/property-search-results/

https://www.omaha.com/townnews/company/residential-real-estate-transfers-jan/article_f94ddf8c-7949-5487-b34c-742968f1bdef.html

Do you think that this requirement deters guests from using Airbnb’s vs hotel’s? btw… they are thinking about making similar proposals in my area so was curious as to what other area’s ordinances are and how we can over come some of the obstacles that we may face.

True but obtaining that information along with the times that a person maybe away from the home is potentially asking for a break-in or ID theft. Having been a victim of ID theft with getting my info from a copy of my ID from an rental viewing… I am very wary about giving my info especially over an unsecured web site.

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Guests do not know about it prior to booking, unless they actually read which most do not.

RR

That would be hard to quantify, but if my calendar is open, it gets booked. I have to block to take breaks from time to time. Having said that, my Air is in a destination resort town, so that can be an influencing factor.

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Do you get much push back when they find out?

no
20202020202020

rr

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I didn’t but after 3 years I had a guest complain and Airbnb gave me 24 hours to remove requirement from my listing or get shut down. I honestly don’t think it’s in their TOA not of I think the privacy on the website relates to hosts but there’s really no one to debate policy with at Airbnb if you disagree. I’m laying low but will probably add back in a few months. (Especially my slow season.)

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It is in there, section 14 But the first sentence of section 14 says we must obey the law and local regs. I will hang my hat on that should a guest complain.

RR

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RR…was reading your situation again and the required ordinances. Boy what a position you are in. I have several different scenario playing in my head. Maybe state “according to statue XYZ I am required to obtain and retain a copy of your ID prior to your arrival.” And then instead of having them send it thru the app have them forward to you in a text msg directly to your phone. However, I think the main objection ABB has is that you are using their message platform to obtain the copy of the ID. Just a suggestion…

I think you’re missing the point… if you damage or steal from the property & the host/owner of the property needs to file a report to the police for the insurance company & we don’t have the REAL name of the guest we will probably have trouble with the Insurance Company & as stated above there is no guarantee that 1) AIRBNB has the REAL ID of the guest & 2) That AIRBNB will share that information with the host/ owner.
You stated your daughter (not you) is a host, she is, of course welcome to risk losing a lot of $ due to damage or theft…
you, on the other hand have no idea what many hosts have lost over the years & it is, of course, your right to refuse to give your ID to your host, but you shouldn’t have the right to tell a host that they shouldn’t be allowed to ask for it in advance especially if it is self check-in. A property owner should have the right to know who is staying/living in their property. My Insurance Company requires I get the names of everyone for every booking that is staying in the property or they won’t cover me.

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I think there objection is they do not want us to have it. It’s in the TOS, I think it’s partly to keep everyone booked through them. They want a cut in the future as well.

Rr

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They don’t get it from us, that’s for sure :slight_smile:

We always tell guests that if they want to return, contact us directly and we will provide them with a discount roughly equivalent to the Airbnb service charge. So far, it’s proved productive and we’ve had a few repeats, some business travellers and others for touristic events.

JF

I do the same. I don’t get a lot of repeat guests (it’s a tourist area) but generally people are up for booking direct. Apart from one guy… I don’t know what it is, maybe he has a thing about collecting reviews or something. He must have stayed with me about 8 times now and despite agreeing it would save us both money to book direct, he just doesn’t do it.

Here’s a question:

Have you ever actually used the information from any ID that you have collected a copy of? If not, you’re probably doing extra work that has no value.

Guest side: I’ve booked AirBNBs where the host has asked for ID. I’m fine with showing it at the door, but not with sending it electronically due to identity theft concerns. I’ve also had a host ask to keep the ID for the duration of the rental but refused – cancelled the reservation because of this.

It’s a legal requirement here (Spain), data sent to the Policia.

JF

I am late to this conversation, but can add to it:

We host a whole house listing on Air where we require the guest to be ID verified with Air to book.

We host elsewhere on a platform that doesn’t provide this option and their guidance was if we require ID verification, the way to do that is put it in the rules, and they (say that they will) cancel penalty free if the guest doesn’t send it.

We have been open for booking since January 1st. To date, our bookings and inquiries have been about 50/50. If requiring guests to send ID on the one platform is some huge barrier to getting booked, we haven’t noticed.

Nobody has ever balked about sending me their ID on the other platform. One guest sent it with the DL# redacted and that was fine with me. I had a valid ID with the guest’s picture and a name and address that matched the booking info and that is all I care about.

If it deters bookings I don’t really care, someone else is right behind them wanting to stay.

We are remote. I need to know who the person to whom I am agreeing to give control of my most valuable asset is. I really would prefer the other platform do it for us, but I understand valid business reasons they would put this on the host.

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I love this line. There are clearly hosts who don’t feel this way, I guess business is slow for them. It’s really disappointing to see the nonsense some of them put up with.

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I am running at under 30% occupancy. Still don’t care lol. I am new, and already getting referrals from previous guests. I like to think we are cultivating our clientele. I have an ideal guest profile and they are finding and loving us.

Incidentally, for our market I consider 50% occupancy to be “full” occupancy, because Ideal Guest is a long weekender. So we aren’t far from goal.

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Yes, true.
Hosts should not be too worried.

I rather have no guest than a bad guest leaving a bad review.

Plenty of times I told a potential guest that they are free to book something else if they do not like my offer.