Requiring ID during a rental has many advantages. Still, there are also disadvantages to be aware of.
Is requiring an ID during the rental process something you should do? How do you do it, and what are the pros and cons? Are you legally obligated to have a record of your tenants’ identification?
It’s time to get informed on the topic and know how to handle it at your self storage facility.
Let’s get this out of the way first: Laws are always changing, and they change on local, state, and federal levels.
What was relevant last month may have changed this month, and what may have been the same nationally may now be different between states.
Whenever you are uncertain about a legal matter, you should always consult a legal professional. Your state self storage association is also a great resource for advice of this manner.
With that said, there’s a lot of conversation around the collecting of identification during the rental process. Is it legal to require a driver’s license or other official form of ID? Is it legal to not require it? What kind of identification is it legal or illegal to copy? How do you store it?
As of right now, we are not aware of any laws requiring you to collect an ID from your customers or saying that you cannot. This could change, and—again—it’s always important to refer to legal professionals or your state self storage association if you’re unsure.
However, it IS illegal to create a copy of a government ID. That’s different from when we talk about government-issued IDs. A government-issued ID is an identification issued by the government, such as a driver’s license.
The kinds of government IDs you should avoid copying are military IDs and other identification held as part of employment by the government.
Regardless of the legality surrounding identification collection, there are some clear signs to determine whether or not it’s right for your facility and your situation.
The more steps in the rental process, the lower your rentals. Uploading an ID or providing one in-person to photocopy requires more steps from customers.
If you require a driver’s license or other ID during the rental process, there is a high likelihood that your rental numbers will be affected. If you’re a facility that is trying to lease up or is struggling with low occupancy, requiring an ID could very likely hinder your efforts.
This single disadvantage carries a lot of weight for self storage facilities looking to increase occupancy above all else.
Let’s look at some of the ways collecting a driver’s license or other ID can help at your facility:
If all of these are more important to you than increasing your occupancy, it may well be that it’s time for you to start requiring identification. And if you’re going to require identification, we highly recommend you do so online.
Online ID upload offers a more secure, accessible, and organized means of collecting and filing IDs from your tenants.
If you’re a self storage manager or you’re an owner thinking of your manager, the collection of IDs can help in some practical ways.
When you’re helping a customer out, it’s important to make sure that you know they’re who they say they are. In the world of self storage, a case of falsified identity can lead to someone gaining access to a storage unit they don’t rent, and that can lead to theft.
Suppose you have a driver’s license or other official identification tied to a customer’s account in your self storage software (or PMS). In that case, it lets managers know immediately whether or not the person they’re talking to is actually who they claim to be.
As an added measure of benefit to your manager, an online ID upload takes the burden of collecting identification off of the manager and places it upon the customer.
When it comes to self storage owners and investors, there are many benefits to collecting identification during the rental process.
Having a customer’s ID on file offers a significant amount of peace of mind for self storage owners. After all, knowing that you are renting to a person that is who they claim to be already eliminates a lot of uncertainty around the security of your facility.
Beyond that, it makes it easier for you to comply with law enforcement, to provide information to law enforcement in the event of a break-in, and to dispute fraudulent chargebacks.
Even just the act of needing to upload a driver’s license or other forms of government-issued identification is likely to deter many criminals, meaning owners can rest a little easier.
The benefits to managers and owners may seem obvious, but how could the collection of identification possibly create a benefit for your self storage customers?
Better service and better security.
When it comes to providing stellar service, having information about the customer right at your fingertips is a must. Government-issued IDs include some basic information such as birthdates and addresses, and this can help you enhance your service in a number of ways.
Maybe you send birthday emails or cards to your customers based on the birthdays on file. Knowing that a customer is from out of town can lead to a more tailored customer service experience. There’s no limit to the number of ways you can connect to your customer when you have more information about who they are, and that’s one of the best ways to manage your customers and level up your customer service!
In a way, security is part of customer service when it comes to the self storage industry.
After all, storage tenants want their property to remain secure, and you’re providing a service that is expected to do just that.
You may think of security software and hardware when it comes to improving your facility’s security. The collection of IDs is another way to improve that security, though.
Remember when we mentioned that ID collection deters some criminals? Remember talking about how it helps managers confirm they’re talking to the person on the rental agreement?
That’s right. Both of these factors improve the security of your self storage facility, and that’s a huge plus for a self storage customer. At face value, it may be a bit of a hassle to customers—it’s another step in the process, and that’s always a downside when it comes to doing business—but it provides a better experience once the rental process is complete and they’re an actual tenant.
Besides all that, consumers these days have to provide their ID for many types of products or services. They’re used to this.
With that in mind, it’s important to remember that requiring an ID with an online rental is likely to hurt your rentals by decreasing the conversion rate of your website.
In other words, there are many advantages for customers, but that doesn’t mean it won’t keep some potential customers from stopping their rental partway through.
We’ve looked at all of the pros and cons, the legality, but here’s the real question: What should you do at your facility?
The answer?
Well, that’s really up to you and your needs.
It’s true that there are many advantages to requiring an ID. And if your self storage facility is well-established and at high occupancy, it could bring many great benefits.
However, it also bogs down the rental process, which will most likely harm your rental rates.
In the end, it’s best to assess the pros and cons of both options and determine which works best for your self storage business at a given point in time.
Also, check out these other great posts about self storage software!
At StoragePug, we build self storage websites that make it easy for new customers to find you and easy for them to rent from you.
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