Had issues with squatters and thieves including all copper water pipes stolen.

I stopped using Craigslist and yard signs due to scammers, thieves, squatters, low quality leads, and surprise visitors.

This allows us to better protect your identity and reduce spam."

Identity theft and advanced fee scams are big risks.

That said, I have been in RE for almost 20 years and my biggest peeve in this industry, outside of crooked thieves, and BS, is the Guru or Pay-to-Play system. 

From what I'm seeing, they're identical in that they offer the same ease of restrictions that would otherwise need to be satisfied in order to acquire regular financing (such as credit, DTI, employment history, etc).

For example, the major location specific costs and risks might be as follows (not ranked):Location Specific Costs:State income taxProperty taxesLandlord insuranceLocation Specific Risks:EvictionPopulationJobMaintenanceCostsTo show the impact of differing state income tax, property taxes and landlord insurance costs I will compute cash flow for an identical property in three different locations.

But with this new project slated I feel like it gives the city more of an identity.

Is it necessary to verify their identity prior to giving them the code?

The process (buy low and remodel) is identical.