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Creating a secure custom form in OR to request for ID

OPCD TX
Sep 27, 2019 4:31 PM
Joined Aug, 2019 24 posts

Hello All,

We wold like to create a secure form to send to guests to retrieve their ID for verification purposes, has anyone had luck with this or suggestions?

Sherene M
Oct 1, 2019 1:50 PM
Joined Jan, 2018 27 posts

Following. I would love to see an easy way to collect ID's from Ownerez!

Chris L
Oct 1, 2019 10:54 PM
Joined May, 2017 199 posts

Thirding this! I love that OR offers electronic signing of rental agreements, and ID verification would really be the capstone of risk reduction and chargeback defense.

I do ask guests to send me a photo of their ID, but occasionally I get a guest who is a little concerned about exposing info to a stranger via email. Honestly, I'd rather have a trusted third party service that maintains secured servers and a strict privacy policy verify the ID and just tell me pass/fail anyway than have to worry about handling guests' PII myself.

I've seen this offered a few other places -- I thought I saw that Guesty offered it, but I can't find it now, but maybe it was another software provider. I've also seen a couple of third-party options; one was clearly a high-volume option and when I contacted them, they had a huge minimum requirement and so it wasn't feasible, but I just found this one on a Google search: https://safelystay.wixsite.com/safely/property-managers -- they have an API that OwnerRez could hook up with. I'm sure there are others.

I'd love it if the system would either enforce that name on the card, the name on the ID, and the name of the person signing the rental agreement matches or flag bookings where there isn't a match so I can investigate further.

At the very least, though, I'd almost rather have OR give guests a way to upload or email ID directly to the system so I can keep it inside OR instead of having to sift through emails in my personal inbox to find the right one. But integration with a third-party ID verification system would be even better!

OPCD TX
Oct 2, 2019 12:22 PM
Joined Aug, 2019 24 posts

We have addendum agreements for special events. For this, we use Docusign, inside their platform they have an option not only to electronically sign but you can request the signer to attach an IMAGE or in this case an ID. This allows guests to attach their photo right into the legal agreement, that way we have it stored in a file. It is super helpful however we would love to have it all inside OwnerRez!

Rich S
Oct 3, 2019 10:28 PM
Joined Dec, 2018 301 posts

Adding my support for this... Chris L has it exactly correct, in today's environment guests *should* be concerned about sending their private (eg: driver's license) to some owner/landlord. A good solution would be a 3rd party that maintains the ID and provides some assurance about the identity of the person signing the agreement.

I really don't know how to implement this, but it would be a game-changer feature for OR to add ;-)

Chris Hynes
Oct 5, 2019 9:07 AM
OR Team Member Joined Oct, 2012 1400 posts

Yes, we have plans to add an ID upload option via custom fields like the other custom fields during the renter agreement signing. That would be just an image, though, without verifying.

@Chris -- interesting idea on the third party verification. I think Safely is now here: https://safely.ai/ -- that looks like some sort of combined verification + damage protection insurance, but based on their site I'm not sure they're actually looking at an ID.

I see there are others that do ID verification like: https://www.trulioo.com/product/id-document-verification/ -- they will do similar to Airbnb where you send a snapshot of front and back of drivers license and compare to a selfie.

I think you really need to retain the ID for chargeback defense -- that's going to need to be sent with the documentation packet. An attestation of "yes, I verified the ID" is going to be weaker than actually showing the ID that matches the card.

Tim K
Oct 9, 2019 12:45 PM
Joined Jul, 2017 71 posts

My thought is to create a workaround until OR gets something implemented. You could set up an "ID upload template" in OR. In the template, include a link to a document upload site (like dropbox) and have people upload the ID. Or just have a template with your phone number and ask them to text the photo to you.

Rich S
Oct 9, 2019 1:16 PM
Joined Dec, 2018 301 posts

@Tim K - the problem is that legally it's a bad idea for owners to possess personal information from guests, such as credit card numbers or driver's licenses.

In CO and maybe other states there is legislation that requires owners to take difficult (for individuals) steps to secure these kinds of things correctly, so what's needed is some method for a 3rd party (who can meet the legal reqts) to do it on our behalf.

Your idea does have merit though, if everyone used dropbox they could give password protected access to owners who in turn could see it. But the problem is that a guest who ends up violating some rule would surely revoke the access unless they forgot about it, and you as owner might not realize it.

E & R Vacation R
Aug 22, 2020 10:34 AM
Joined Jan, 2020 56 posts

I think the privacy issue would not apply if you ask them to redact personal info like ID numbers of any kind. I tell them I need their DOB, current address and photo, they can redact anything else. ???

Val Rogers
Aug 26, 2020 11:24 AM
Joined Oct, 2016 33 posts

I send a dropbox link for guests to upload a copy of their ID. I tell guests that we only need to see their name and date of birth to verify that they meet our minimum age requirement.

Chris L
Aug 30, 2020 1:28 AM
Joined May, 2017 199 posts

Since it seems this post got bumped recently, I might as well also post an updated list of potential vendors for ID verification:

https://safely.ai/guest-screening/
https://www.autohost.ai/guest-screening-background-checks-for-hospitality-autohost
https://www.idology.com/ (used by https://blog.turnkeyvr.com/using-idology-results-secure-guest-screening/)
https://screenbnb.com/
https://www.trulioo.com/product/id-document-verification

WaterfrontGem
Apr 7, 2021 11:21 PM
Joined Jun, 2019 7 posts

Any update on "Photo ID" upload/requirement?

Are people accomplishing this with Custom Fields?

Does anyone require the full name of all registered guests (and is that accomplished with Custom Fields, too)?

Ideally, we'd be able to require:
-- Full name of all guests on the reservation
-- Photo ID of the person making the reservation (option to require one for each guest)

My current backup plan is to have a Contact Form on my website at MyDomain.com/upload and do the legwork manually, but would definitely be helpful to have it baked into the reservation/agreement process!

Ken T
Apr 8, 2021 11:48 AM
OR Team Member Joined Aug, 2019 1472 posts

No, no particular update, but there is an extensive discussion on how best to do this currently over here:

https://www.ownerrez.com/forums/requests/template-fields-for-agreement-info-guest-needs-to-add

Miles T
May 21, 2022 10:46 AM
Joined May, 2022 19 posts

Here is a new background check service for hosts. Only $5/ report. They're super fast, they don't ask the guest a bunch of questions causing them to not book, and give you a report on how the guest has behaved in previous rentals. Past is the best indicator of the future!https://checkflow.webflow.io/