Move-in requirements let you require customers to sign their contract, complete an identity check, or both before they can access their unit.
They are useful if you run self-service bookings, unmanned sites, or 24-hour access, where customers may arrive before speaking to your team.
This article explains how to turn move-in requirements on, what customers see, and how to manage bookings when a requirement has not been completed.
What you can do with move-in requirements
Move-in requirements control when access is first granted during check-in.
You can require customers to:
Sign their contract before move-in
Complete an identity check before move-in
Complete both steps before move-in
Stora will only grant access once all required steps are completed or waived.
⚠️ Move-in requirements do not overlock a unit or remove access after a customer has already been let in. They only delay the initial move-in until the required steps are complete.
How to turn on move-in requirements
Go to your Check-in settings.
Scroll to the Contract signatures and Stora identity check sections.
Under When can customers move in?, choose the rule you want to use.
Click Save changes.
Once saved, Stora will only grant access after the customer completes the requirement you selected.
💡 These settings only apply to future bookings.
The requirements in force at the moment a booking happens or a subscription is created are the ones that apply to it for its whole life.
Turning a requirement on only affects bookings made from that point forward.
Existing bookings — including upcoming ones that haven't moved in yet — are not retroactively blocked.
Changing your check-in settings later works the same way.
If you add, remove or change a requirement, existing subscriptions keep the settings they were created with — only new bookings pick up the change.
How to waive a move-in requirement
If you want to let a customer in without completing a requirement, you can waive it.
For example, you might do this if you have already checked their ID in person.
Open the customer’s subscription.
Find the requirement in the side panel:
ID verification
Contract signing
Click Waive next to the requirement.
Confirm the change.
Once all requirements are either completed or waived, access is granted immediately.
⚠️ Only waive a requirement if you are comfortable granting access without that step being completed.
What customers experience
When a customer books a unit, Stora guides them through the steps they need to complete before move-in.
Depending on your settings, they may need to:
Sign their contract
Complete their identity check
Complete both steps
If the required steps are still outstanding, the customer will not receive access yet.
Stora also reminds customers to complete their move-in requirements, so your team does not need to chase them manually.
Important things to know
Requirements are saved at the time of booking
The move-in requirements applied to a booking are based on the settings in place when that booking or subscription was created.
If you change your check-in settings later, existing bookings are not updated retrospectively.
Waiving can still allow follow-up later
By default, waiving a requirement marks it as complete for access purposes.
If you still want the customer to complete the step later, such as signing a contract for your records, you can choose to keep showing it in their portal without blocking move-in.
Manual unit allocation still checks requirements
If you manually allocate a unit to a booking with outstanding requirements, Stora will ask you to confirm a waive before continuing.
Activity is recorded on the subscription timeline
Any requirement being completed, waived, or changed is recorded on the subscription timeline, including who made the change and when.
Exempting a customer from ID verification
If you have already verified a customer and do not want them to complete ID checks on bookings, you can exempt them at the customer level.
This is useful for trusted customers or customers you have verified in person already.
Exemption vs waive
Waive: applies to one specific booking only
Exemption: applies to the customer and automatically affects their current and future bookings
Use a waive for a one-off exception. Use an exemption if the customer should not need ID checks going forward
What customers experience
When a customer books a unit, Stora guides them through the steps they need to complete before move-in.
Depending on your settings, the customer may need to:
Sign their contract.
Complete their identity check.
Complete both steps.
If they have not completed the required steps, they will not receive access to their unit yet.
Stora also reminds the customer to finish the required steps, so they can complete check-in without your team needing to chase manually.
Troublshooting
A customer signed their contract but is still blocked
Check whether:
The booking has more than one contract and one is still unsigned
The signed contract was voided or replaced before move-in
If either of these has happened, the contract requirement will still show as incomplete until the current contract is signed or waived.
I voided a contract and the customer lost access to move in
Before move-in, a completed requirement can become incomplete again if the contract is voided or replaced.
To let the customer in, either issue a new contract for them to sign or waive the requirement.
What if a contract is marked “Not applicable”?
If a contract is marked Not applicable, the contract requirement is treated as complete and will not block move-in.
I turned move-in requirements on but existing bookings are not blocked
This is expected.
Move-in requirements only apply to bookings created after the setting was enabled or changed.
Does this lock customers out after they already have access?
No.
Move-in requirements only affect first-time move-in access. They do not remove access from customers who have already been let in.
Can I require other steps, such as a deposit or credit check?
Not yet.
At the moment, move-in requirements support contract signing and ID verification only.