Hello! I was so happy to find THS last spring and have had three very successful sits for our precious pups. Before I signed up I asked our housing manager if we could have sitters in our rental home and was told that as long as we provided the names and dates it would be fine. Unfortunately we have now been informed that anyone who stays in our home for more than 14 consecutive days or 30 days in a calendar year must fill out a 5 page application (same form we filled out to apply to live In the home) , provide a$30 fee per person (which we would pay) and copy of a photo ID. Information asked for includes SSN, drivers license number, employment history, income, references and rental history. I know the sitters have already done this when they applied to THS and I feel like a potential sitter may not want to provide their info to a third party. I am now very upset about this. So my question to sitters, would you not apply to sit knowing you would have to give out this info? And to other pet owners, have you encountered this type of requirement from your housing manager.
Hi @Benning91 and welcome to the forum. Lovely to hear that youâve had great sits for your pups and I can imagine it must by annoying that your housing manager has changed the conditions for you. What country are you in?
It sounds almost like these terms are to cover sub-letting and I wonder if you spoke to them again they might waive this for your particular house sit situations? Personally Iâd have no issue with providing ID but employment history and rental history seems a little excessive for a house sit. Would they then want to approve the sitters based on the information provided or is it just a formality?
Iâm going to move this into our sitter/owner exchange category as I think youâll get a bit more feedback here from both perspectives and I hope you find a way through this ⌠perhaps a negotiated process thatâs specific to your house sitters with less info required. Do let us know how this goes. All the best!
That will definitely be to control subletting. I would speak to your housing manager explaining your situation and hope that they will show leniency ( and some common sense! )in your situation.
How often do you have sitters for more than 14 days? -
We would not apply to be honest (too much paperwork and time). Itâs best to speak directly to the manager. Alternatively you could also find sitters who do the first half of the sit and then hand it over to next ones. We have done that before (only meeting the owner at the end of the sit). In that case your written instructions should be really clear and detailed, though, and you should be available for video chats.
This does sound like subletting and I think Landlords have encountered tenants renting out on an Airbnb basis. Twice, I have stayed at Airbnbs to be advised by the host not to mention to anyone in the block that I was renting the property which I was not comfortable with.
So, as others suggest, talk to your housing manager and perhaps show him your profile on THS so that he can understand exactly what you are doing.
I have sent a copy of my passport to HOs for Insurance Purposes but would not send anything else. When a sitter applies to THS they do not send in all of the particulars that you have mentioned.
I would certainly not apply for any sitting on this basis, as I would be sending personal information to a third party with no idea what he/she would do with it. We just cannot be too careful with ID, fraud identity etc.
Another thing that I would not do is carry out a part sitting as suggested by @Timmy. It has worked for him but I would not want to take over from a sitter after 13 days as I would not know if they would leave the property as I would like. I would not want to handover to a sitter either as I would have no idea how they would treat the property after I had left. How would you carry out 2 accurate reviews?
Such a lot to think about and I do hope that your Housing Manager can be reasonable
Good luck
@Itchyfeet - This will not be a clause to deter Airbnb guests as these are mainly less than 14 days - This will be so that the management company are informed of any new long term tenants
You have some valid points. The homeowner we did this with was not home proud and the place was actually a bit of a mess. Once we handed over a sit to another couple (âfriendsâ of the homeowners) and they left the house dirty and âall the plants diedâ. The homeowners immediately contacted us on their return and questioned us about in which state we left the property. We spent the whole day cleaning before the new sitters came, watered plants for 2 hours every day and even made dinner for them, so we were thoroughly disappointed (and didnât get a review either). The other time it worked out perfectly, though.
I probably wouldnât apply for this sit, unless it was for a few months and therefore worth the hassle. Otherwise, I would not want to disclose income, SSN, ask friends to be available for references, etc. It is too invasive. If a sitter is not from the US, they wouldnât have a Social Security number (SSN).
I agree that in the U.S., SSN would be too easy for ID fraud. Some Foreign Nationals can get SSN, such as for educational purposes, visas.
I think thatâs ridiculous. As a sitter I have been vetted by THS. I would be happy to provide my photo I.d. a passport card but my social security number ? No way !
Indeed. We know a guy who has been detained in Dubai for years now because somebody faked his signature (not in prison, but not allowed to get out). Just think of the possibilities somebody would have with all this data.
What does your lease say? What if you had a friend or family member stay while you are away? Would they be required to do the same paperwork?
Yes, theyâd be considered a tenant, with all the legal obligations and rights. In many jurisdictions, a 30-day or more tenancy/residency makes it very difficult to evict someone. Thatâs where the landlord/property manager is coming from.
Obviously, no unpaid petsitter is going to submit an application for tenancy. That would bring a lot of complications - for starters, the address would show up on their credit reports forever, and with the IRS (potentially exposing them to paying taxes for that jurisdiction!). Itâs just a no-go.
a 5 page application (same form we filled out to apply to live In the home) , provide a$30 fee per person (which we would pay) and copy of a photo ID. Information asked for includes SSN, drivers license number, employment history, income, references and rental history. I know the sitters have already done this when they applied to THS
No, THS does not have all of this on file for sitters.
Update: I took the advice here and sent a letter explaining how THS works and that I thought it would be very unlikely that potential sitters would want to disclose personal financial information. Fortunately we were able to reach a compromise. I will still have to have sitters fill out a small portion of the form and pay the $30 for a background check but no credit check. Our next sitter submitted and was approved. Iâm so relieved!
Are you paying the $30? I will say that there is 0 chance I would do this, especially if I had to pay. I think you got lucky with your current sitter being willing so you should definitely include this requirement in your listing so people who arenât willing know not to apply.
@Benning91 did say at the start of the thread that he/she would pay the $30
I donât think that was there when I read it when it was originally posted. Perhaps it was part of the edit after others mentioned it. I didnât re-read the OP before I responded. But thatâs good.