balai.
The product, not a feature

How Balai actually verifies every landlord.

Other rental platforms verify nothing and pass the risk on to you. Balai runs every listing through up to three layers of human checks — and shows tenants exactly which checks each landlord passed. Here’s what each tier looks like, what it prevents, and why we built it this way.

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The three tiers

What each badge actually means.

Tier 1

1

ID verified

5 minutes · automated · one-time

We verify you're a real person before you list anything. Upload a government-issued PH ID, hold up your face for a liveness selfie, and we match them. The minimum bar before your listing goes live.

What we accept

  • PhilID (national ID)
  • UMID
  • Driver's license
  • Passport (PH)
  • Postal ID

What we reject

  • Photocopies / screenshots
  • Expired IDs
  • Selfies that don't match the ID portrait

Privacy: Image of your ID is stored encrypted. Tenants only see your name and tier badge — they never see the ID itself.

Tier 2

2

Documents verified

≤ 24 hours · human review · one-time per property

We verify you actually have the right to lease this specific unit. A real person on our team reviews your proof-of-right-to-lease document against the property address. No automated decisions on this tier.

What we accept

  • Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) for houses
  • Condominium Certificate of Title (CCT) for condos
  • Real Property Tax receipt (recent)
  • Special Power of Attorney (notarized) if you're listing on someone else's behalf
  • PRC license + agency authorization if you're a broker

What we reject

  • Documents with a different name than your ID
  • Outdated or unpaid RPT
  • Photos so blurry the title number is unreadable

Privacy: Documents are reviewed once, never shared. We store a hash of the title number so we can detect if anyone else tries to list the same unit.

Tier 3

3

On-site verified

30 minutes · in person · the strongest signal

A Balai verifier visits the unit, meets you in person, and confirms the photos and details match reality. This is the tier that's almost impossible to fake — and the one tenants weight the most when deciding to send a deposit.

What we accept

  • Visit at a time you pick (we don't show up unannounced)
  • Verifier carries Balai ID and signs in to your building if needed
  • We take 4–6 photos to cross-check against your listing
  • Re-visit free annually if the unit changes

What we reject

  • Visits where the landlord can't be reached
  • Units that look materially different from the photos
  • Address mismatches between listing and reality

Privacy: Photos taken during the visit are used to verify the listing matches reality. You approve which ones (if any) appear on the public listing.

Why landlords climb the ladder

Each tier changes how tenants behave.

You don’t have to do all three. But the higher the tier, the lower the friction between ‘they messaged me’ and ‘they signed the lease.’

(Multipliers are directional — we’ll publish exact numbers once we have a full quarter of data.)

  • ID verified

    Baseline trust

    Tenants know a real person stands behind the listing. Worth the 5 minutes.

  • Documents verified

    ≈ 2× inquiry rate

    The badge that filters out 'is this even your apartment' questions. Most tenants who message you have already decided to trust you.

  • On-site verified

    ≈ 3× inquiry-to-tour rate

    Tenants tour faster, ghost less, and are dramatically more likely to send deposit through the platform.

What this prevents

The Cebu rental scams Balai shuts down.

Every one of these is happening right now on Marketplace and free classifieds. Verification isn’t a feature on Balai — it’s the entire point.

  • Deposit-then-ghost

    Listing exists, deposit gets paid, landlord disappears. Tier 2 (docs) + Tier 3 (on-site) make this nearly impossible — the verifier has met the person in real life.

  • Copy-paste listings

    Scammer re-uses photos and details from a real listing. We hash title numbers and detect re-uploads. Verified listings show a clear ‘we visited this unit on [date]’ stamp.

  • Phantom middlemen

    Someone claiming to ‘help you rent from the owner’ pockets your deposit. We require an SPA if you're not the title holder — and we contact the listed owner.

  • Phone-number harvesting

    Numbers screenshotted off Marketplace get sold to scam operators. Your number never appears publicly on Balai — tenants reach you through the app.

What Balai doesn’t do

We’re honest about what verification can’t cover.

  • We don’t check a landlord’s personality or negotiation style. Reviews come later — for now, the badge tells you they’re real, not nice.
  • We don’t guarantee unit condition between the on-site visit and your move-in. Always do your own walkthrough before signing.
  • We don’t handle deposits yet — escrow is on the roadmap. For now, only pay deposit after you’ve seen the unit in person.

List your property — verified by humans, trusted by tenants.

Free for the first 100 landlords. We’ll book your verification call this week.

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