Does Airbnb do Background Checks on Guests?

Around 554.5 million tourists visited Booking in September 2023 making it the most visited travel website in the world. Airbnb and Tripadvisor followed with 89 million and 156 million respectively. But how many of these guests were screened? Does Airbnb do background checks at all? Keep reading and learn about everything worth knowing about Airbnb guest background checks.

Does Airbnb do background checks?

To create a profile, guests have to indicate basic personal information. And yet, does Airbnb do background checks on all guests? The short answer is no, at least not in-house.

Airbnb specify that they don’t run background checks on every user. They do, however, occasionally submit the first name, last name, and date of birth to their approved background check providers.

They also don’t check for past criminal activities and sex offender registrations. Even when some states like Arizona made it mandatory to screen every guest against the sex offender list, Airbnb didn’t change their approach. Wondering what else you should check while guest screening?

However, the hosts and property managers still want to run background checks for vacation rentals. And their needs are addressed by the local laws. For instance, it’s quite normal for Airbnb to ask for a passport in Spain, Italy, and Portugal.

Others use vacation rental guest screening tools to keep the bad guests away and comply with the laws.

What information does Airbnb require from guests?

Airbnb requires a standard list of information including legal name, address and/or other personal information to verify your identity, and a photo of a government ID (a driving license, passport, identity card or visa).

How do Airbnb hosts verify age?

It’s against Airbnb’s age policy to create an account to travel or host for anyone under the age of 18. To prevent that, Airbnb may use various methods for age verification: government ID verification, background checks, profile information, and secure payment methods.

How does Airbnb’s screening and verification processes look like?

The good news is that a verified host can require guests to verify their accounts before booking with them through the Reservation Requirements page. And as a user, you can verify your account by sending your state ID and connecting your profiles to other social media.