In this article, we\u2019ll cover everything you need to know about guest verification: why it\u2019s important, what the OTAs are doing, and what software solutions are out there that you can use to guarantee safety for yourself, your guests, and your owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nVacation rental guest screening: Why is it important to screen guests?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
There are plenty of reasons why you should screen guests staying in your rental. Here are the three most important ones:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prevent parties<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Parties getting out of hand are obviously a major concern. Who hasn\u2019t heard a horror story about guests throwing a party and completely destroying a rental?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Making sure such parties never happen is vital to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Protect your property from costly damages and<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Maintain good relationships with your neighbours.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Vacation rental guest screening helps you prevent parties by identifying guests who likely intend to use your rental for a party. Such red flags include guests of a specific age group (below 25 years old) who live in the same area as your rental, book an entire home for a one-night stay, and have no positive reviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a response to this problem, Airbnb has introduced a protocol in the US<\/a> to identify and ban these types of guests (due to the pandemic Airbnb has also put in place a global party ban<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nAvoid fraudulent bookings and credit card fraud<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
In a world where the vast majority of vacation rental bookings are made online, fraud is becoming more and more common. It\u2019s not unheard of for bad actors to steal someone\u2019s ID or credit card and try to impersonate them when they make a reservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thorough guests screening and asking your guests to verify their identity can help root out fraudsters and help you only accept legitimate bookings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nPrevent criminal activity in your rental<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Running background checks on your guests also helps to prevent criminal behaviour on the premises of your property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the vast majority of guests are well-intentioned, there have been reported cases of drug abuse and other illegal activity in short-term rentals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By making sure your guests are who they say they are and screening their rental history, you can make sure that you\u2019re not accepting bookings for anyone who intends to use your rental for illegal purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nDo OTAs require guests to verify their identity?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You may be wondering why you should worry about screening guests. Don\u2019t OTAs do it for you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While OTAs do have some guest verification processes in place, they are limited. Let\u2019s see how some of the most popular booking sites screen their guests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nAirbnb<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Airbnb may ask guests to verify their identity to check that they are who they say they are. However, ID verification is not a part of the Airbnb signup process, meaning not all guests on Airbnb are verified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a property manager, you can choose only to accept guests who are verified on Airbnb. In this case, Airbnb will ask the guest to confirm their identity by either entering their legal name and address or uploading a photo of a government ID. This information, of course, is not shared with property managers. You simply see that the guest is verified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for background checks, Airbnb currently only performs them in the US. It uses the information provided by a verified ID to cross-reference it with public records for criminal convictions and sex offender registrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nBooking.com<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Similarly, on Booking.com you can make it a booking requirement for guests to provide a verified phone number or address in addition to a valid email address, credit card info, and maintaining a good track record for their stays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nVrbo<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, Vrbo doesn\u2019t require guests to confirm their identity to book a property. However, it does inform guests that obtaining the \u201cVerified Identity\u201d badge helps build trust with hosts and makes their booking requests more likely to be accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once a guest submits a booking request, Vrbo may ask them to provide information such as their first and last name, email address, mobile phone number, physical address and birth date. Vrbo then checks to see if the information is accurate. However, at the moment, there is no way for property managers to require guests to confirm their identity before<\/em> sending a booking request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n3 ways to carry out vacation rental guest screening<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Since the screening processes that OTAs use are limited, it\u2019s advisable for property managers to set up their own processes. So what can you do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nScreening your guests manually<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Doing manual guests screenings is an option. However, it\u2019s not scalable. You would have to call or message all your guests and screen their social media profiles. It would take lots of time \u2013 depending on how many rentals you have, and you might even have to hire someone just to do guest screenings. Automating the process is far more efficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nVacation rental guest screening via PMS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Some property management systems have built-in guest verification solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, Guesty<\/a> allows you to automatically send guests a check-in form and ask them to upload a photo ID. You can also send Rental Agreements to your guests and collect their legally binding e-signatures, which reduces your vulnerability to fraud, damage and unwanted guest behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, since property management systems do not specialise in vacation rental guest screening, their solutions aren\u2019t always up-to-scratch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nVacation rental guest screening via third-party ID verification software<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Your best bet is to leave guest verification to the experts and use third-party ID verification software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Third-party guest screening solutions help you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Verify that your guest is a legitimate customer and their booking is genuine.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Confirm that your guest meets the minimum age requirement to rent your property.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Flags suspicious behaviour and prevents bad actors from booking your rental.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Of course, the screening software you choose should integrate with your vacation rental software (your PMS<\/a> or channel manager<\/a>). And, the screening process should be quick and easy for your guests to complete so that they can enjoy a seamless experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nSUPERHOG: A risk management platform to handle your vacation rental guest screening and ID verification<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We are proud to announce that Rentals United has partnered with GUARDHOG Technologies to provide our clients with a risk management platform that makes renting 100% safe for both guests and hosts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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