I am a HO and curious about what other HO thoughts are on ‘couple’ background checks versus individual? Based on my limited interface with sitters, it appears that one person in a couple applies as a sitter, and expects for their significant other to be accepted by the HO to join in on the sit. Is that how it works?
Do you, as HO, ask if the significant other has a THS background check as well?
If they apply as a couple does THS require both to have a background check? Thanks.
This has been asked & discussed many times on the forum. If you use the spy glass and search “background check” you will get a comprehensive answet.
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That is how it works now although THS are using a group to test the possibility of both sitters being verified.
Only sitters from the USA require a background check (I have no idea why they are treated differently).
Homeowners are not background checked at all, and I am unsure if their home and contact details are verified.
As @Crookie started you can find much more information on the forum around this topic.
When it comes to people sitting with a significant other, there are two different types of scenarios:
The first is that the two people sit as a couple all of the time and all the reviews would be referring to both of them. If there was any sort of pre-confirmation chat, both parties would usually be participating. But only the person who signed up for the account is checked as of now.
But as someone else said, I believe they are looking to offer an option to have both people checked. I see them laying the groundwork for that in a recent change I noticed on ‘couple profiles’ where the main account holder has all the various verifications listed and the second person has nothing next to their name.
So if you happen to have noticed this on sitter profiles, this is how they all look for now, except of course if THS has altered the profiles of anyone participating in that beta test they are doing that involves making certain changes to couple accounts.
In these instances, even though the second party has not been checked, I would think that most hosts would find the reviews sufficient to determine that both parties are fine. You would not be able to get any sort of THS-based check on this second person.
In the second scenario, you may have people who have a solo profile and may occasionally ask for a significant other to come along on a sit. This means that at least some of the prior reviews may only refer to the account holder and these hosts have not had any experience with the partner. They may not have met this partner on a pre-confirmation chat. Many hosts may be more reluctant to accept the sitter and their partner in this instance.
Also, like someone else said, it is important to note that only US based sitters get a background check. Sitters from anywhere else only have their ID’s verified. It is my understanding that THS implemented this because their market research indicated that hosts–at least US based ones–would be more likely to use the service if sitters had a background check. US hosts and US based sitters make up a big chunk of the membership.
I believe these checks have been limited to US sitters because laws in other countries would prevent a service like THS from accessing this sort of information on members.
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I have always assumed that the USA background check thing was just because of privacy laws - there are far fewer privacy protections in the US, so it is easier for THS to comply with regulations for that versus having to background check European sitters. But that is an assumption - I don’t actually know.
European sitters should be aware, though, that that same lack of privacy protection applies when they go into the US. For example, facial recognition technology is used at the borders. It is not legal to do house and pet sitting in the US on a tourist visa, and to the best of my knowledge there is nothing to stop Customs and Border Protection from scraping the THS site to get images of all the registered sitters and compare those to border entries to find those potentially breaking that rule.
I am curious what the stance would be for THS for dual citizens? As a homeowner, to me the ideal sitter would be a background-checked sitter, so if I’m in Europe I’d want one who had gone through the US background check. But then I’d need a sitter who was - a US citizen? And then I’d probably need them to either be a dual citizen or have European residency so they’re legally authorized to sit in Europe too. So complicated. If someone is a dual citizen, say US and France, do they still get background checked? Or does the French part outweigh the US part? (
That’s my understanding too. THS does the background checks in the US because they can legally require it. In other countries they can’t.
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So it looks like THS have already made the decision to go ahead with verifications for each person in a couple in future ( even though the beta testing of the concept hasn’t started yet ) ….
Meanwhile even if our spouse wants to be verified ( it’s a suggestion we made an couple of years back ) and we volunteered to join the beta testing but were not accepted for the trial they can’t get verified ….
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Very helpful. Thank you for the information. I fall in the “reluctant” category, my husband does not. It’s really great hearing what other HO feelings are.
Great points you made here. Thank you.
I feel that just an ID verification isn’t enough for me to trust my home and pets to.
That’s weird.
Thanks. I found the most information about sitters complaining about the inequity of their background check requirement and not the same for the HO.
Yes, there is a lot of information about background checks, but I hadn’t seen any that answered my question. Thanks.
It’s not really an application process to join THS. Sitters sign up as members and pay the membership fee and in most cases just get their ID verified. Only US sitters get criminal background and currently it’s only on the main account holder. Pretty much anyone can join. Personally, I think reviews and video chats give you much more information about members.
If you are uncomfortable without the background check you can just put in your listing that you only accept solo sitters from the US. There are listings that request solos, listings that request couples, some listings are open to families, etc. What you are looking for in a sitter is up to you. Just state it in the listing.
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I used to think that but really - the probability of something going wrong is very, VERY small. Most people are good. We hear the most about the bad ones, but I’ve had at least twenty pet sitters over my lifetime, plus a few housesitters, and I’ve never had a truly bad experience. I had a few that weren’t as clean as I would like but others that were cleaner than I expected. Those many good experiences don’t make the news or end up viral on social media. Our brains are wired to look for threats. We can rewire them to look for beauty.
Keep in mind that if only the identity has been checked, that is what you need to have law enforcement intervene and track the individual down in the unlikely evet that something does go awry. Even if someone has a ding on their background check, that might mean very little. If someone made a poor choice twenty years ago that doesn’t mean they’ll make a poor choice now. And if someone never got caught for something they did do, that will also not show up.
The probability of a person with a flawless background being in a relationship with a partner who is a criminal and they both decide to go housesitting? I’d say that’s the stuff of TV movies, not any reality I’ve encountered. My advice is simply to have good homeowner’s insurance and then trust your gut.
Perhaps a more useful question is: What is it that you are really afraid of? What is the root of that fear? When that is really understood, the fear of “other” is likely to disappear. Trusting and welcoming others is a wonderful way to live a life. 
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Im a HO and I know the feeling. My husband was all for THS and I was not in the beginning, but as we did more sits, I became a lot more comfortable. We’ve had 7 sits now in the past 1.5 years and have met the most interesting wonderful people. I want to travel more just so I can meet new people to take care of my dog. 
. All of our sits have been great. THS has really allowed us to travel more when we can’t take our dog with us.
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