Trust & safety
What we check, and what you should
A badge tells you a specific check happened. It is not a promise about how someone will behave — so here is exactly what each one covers, and what to watch for yourself.
Verification
What the badges mean
Each one is a separate, checkable fact. Someone can have all four, or none.
Phone confirmed
A code was sent to this number and entered back. It means the account is reachable — not that anyone checked who owns the SIM.
Email confirmed
Same idea, for an email address. Useful for account recovery; weak as an identity signal.
ID verified
A person on our team looked at a citizenship certificate, passport, license, or national ID and accepted it. This is the strongest signal about who someone is.
Agency verified
A registered company submitted its registration and tax documents and a reviewer accepted them. Applies to the company, not to every individual staff member.
A badge records a check that happened in the past. It cannot tell you someone will be fair with you now — a verified landlord can still be a difficult one. Use badges to narrow your risk, never to skip the steps below.
Know the pattern
What actually goes wrong here
These are the patterns that cost renters money in Kathmandu, not hypotheticals.
Advance before viewing
The most common one. A convincing listing, a friendly chat, and a request to send one to three months’ advance by wallet or bank transfer to “hold” the room. The money and the account both disappear. Never send an advance before you have stood in the room and signed something.
“Let us talk on WhatsApp”
Moving early to a chat nobody else can see is how a dispute becomes your word against theirs. Keep the conversation here — if something goes wrong, a thread we can read is a thread we can act on.
Photos that are not the room
Stolen or years-old photos are cheap. Ask for a live video walkthrough, or a photo taken right now of something specific — the meter, the stairwell, today’s newspaper on the bed.
Reporting
Reporting something
Reports are read by our moderators. You will not be identified to the person you reported.
A listing
Use the report action on the listing itself for a scam, wrong information, a place that is already taken, a duplicate, or discriminatory terms. Repeated upheld reports cost the owner standing on the platform.
A person or an agency
Use the report action on their profile for harassment, someone impersonating another person or a company, or an attempt to take money. One open report per account is enough — a second does not make it move faster.
Get verified yourself
Verifying your own identity makes owners and tenants far more willing to deal with you.
