Because only locals commit felonies.
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We book lots of locals and always have. Never a problem.
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Perhaps a bit too fast? 
What exactly did this guest do that was a problem? Presumably he had served his sentence (wasnât on the lam following a jailbreak), right?
I am not really âyoungerâ anymore but I have had the same phone number since 2002. (And I donât even live I. The same star as that area code anymore). It was my second number. The first one was my first cell phone that my then husband (now ex) got me around 2000 or earlier (and I actually Iâve a few miles away from where I lived when I was married).
I guess what I meant by âyoungerâ was friends of mine who move with greater frequency. Friends my age donât seem to be relocating as much. But, yeah, itâs rare for anyone who moves to change their phone number these days. 
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He is a violent offender, 1st degree Attempted Murder with intent. His Facebook page looked like something straight out of a horror movie. When I email local authorities to see if he is allowed to be staying in an Airbnb instead of a halfway house the police called me in 10 min? I was expecting the email to go into a black hole? They said he is allowed to stay in a hotel, but with a slight whiff of caution they said look at his report and notice they have 6 different mugs shots on him over 15 years. That was their hint to me he is not someone you want in your home. They said they will call him to see how things are going? Airbnb does not filter out these types and its getting worse. Fyi my wife and I ran a non-profit business where we employed women who were incarcerated for years. So believe me if he was bad he was bad news. I think Airbnb should create a new type of verification. As a guest I would pay $25 to have my profile with a Diamond to show I am not a felon or a violent sexual predator. That way other hosts will feel good about me staying in their home. And as a host I can feel good about booking only âDiamond Guestsâ. I would pay to have it.
Yup, no problems here either. Our places tend to be overspill for family weddings, parties etc.
Oh shit, Iâve just theyâre THIRD PARTY BOOKINGS as well!
End up down the Airbnb salt mines for thatâun.
What about BDC, HA, VRBO etc etc? They donât do criminal record checks, and in the UK and Europe Airbnb donât (canât actually) verify someone is lillywhite.
A pulse and a working credit card, thatâs all we require. In fact, for directs the CC isnât necessary, I much prefer cash 
JF
I have IB on and do not âvetâ guests at all. I do not care if they are cheaters, or if they do drugs as long as they do not leave a mess or steal or damage anything, so far so good.
RR
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Me too more or less. Although if they leave the place in good nick and are quiet then they become favourites.
Iâm the same. They can be with their paramours (great word), be murderers, be sex workers, loaded to the eyeballs with drugs, whatever.
Iâve ranted here before how in the âolden daysâ before the internet we sometimes didnât even know a guestâs name when they arrived. (And this was in my own home). So I imagine that anyone who has been hosting for a while has hosted all sorts of villains unawares.
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My career as a teacher was such good preparation for being a host. Our public school took all kinds of students. There used to be a van from a nearby halfway house that would drop off a half dozen convicted felons with ankle bracelets each morning. Once I saw one of my students on the âsex offenderâ list. It was alarming of course that he was 20 years old and in a high school with 14 year old girls but thatâs a different topic. Once a troubled young man (we knew there was something off with him in HS) came to talk to me after school about his grades. I was alone in my classroom and many folks had gone home for the day. He was literally weeping about how not passing the class was going to prevent him from getting a football scholarship, blah de blah. Anyway I got through that meeting intact. Sadly we later heard he was convicted of the murder of his son, shaking him to death.
And all those years my address and phone number were in the phone book. I never had a problem, got vandalized, had my car keyed or my house egged. I once had a parent call me at home at 7pm, that was it.
So Iâm not making light of anyoneâs fears but those of us who arenât concerned or afraid have a clear competitive advantage over those with different feelings.
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not that but because local people can always come back. I donât know who they are; they might be checking for people who want to commit a burglary; they might be local drug lords. Or they might be nice people with a good reason.
I personally learned so much about local people on this very forum that I look twice and check upon local people trying to book my home. Unless they have a very good reason I deny them. I do have 1 or 2 per year though. For example grnadma nights out with her friends because my house is conveniently located to all her girlfriends.