Airbnb could prominently feature an "unverified" notice on the site if they wanted to. They don't because, for every case like this, there are probably hundreds

Airbnb could prominently feature an "unverified" notice on the site if they wanted to. They don't because, for every case like this, there are probably hundreds of unverified renters who work out just fine. While featuring an unverified notice (and doing other background check stuff) would make the interaction between owner and renter safer, it would probably eliminate a non-trivial percentage of those "unverified but it worked" cases. And that means less profit/growth for Airbnb.