Verification levels

Friend in LA is for adults 18 and older who want to meet people in the Greater Los Angeles area for dating, friendship, or low-pressure social plans. If you are under 18, you cannot create or keep an account.

To get started you need a valid email you control, a US phone number you can verify by SMS/code, and a ZIP inside our Greater Los Angeles service area during onboarding. Those checks keep discovery local and reduce fake or out-of-area accounts.

After email and phone verification, you finish onboarding with photos, basics, location, and who you want to meet. Discovery unlocks once that profile setup is complete.

• You must be 18+ and use your own account — no shared or “team” profiles.
• Use a real US number and a ZIP we support; contact support if a valid LA-area ZIP is rejected.
• Read How it works and the Terms of use before you join.

Friend in LA is a local dating and social platform built for Greater Los Angeles. The idea is simple: meet people nearby for dating or social connection, not a nationwide swipe feed with no context.

Core product pieces include nearby discovery, mutual matching, messaging after a match, optional video call requests, member events, community and plan lounges, and an Elite peer circle for high-profile members who qualify.

You can start with a free account, then upgrade when you want more likes, discovery tools, or other paid features. Plans and packs are listed on Membership and managed from Billing after you sign in.

• Local-first discovery around Greater Los Angeles ZIPs and your chosen radius.
• Match → message → optional video calls, with report and block available throughout.
• Compare Free, Plus, Premium, and Elite paths on Membership.

Discovery is built around Greater Los Angeles. During onboarding you enter a ZIP and choose a radius so you mainly see people near you, not profiles across the country.

If you temporarily travel, your matching window still follows the location settings on your account. If you move permanently outside the service area, nearby discovery may stop showing useful results until you update your ZIP and preferences.

We periodically refine which ZIPs count as in-area. If you live in Greater LA and onboarding rejects your ZIP, open a support ticket with the ZIP so we can check the map.

• Set ZIP and radius in onboarding, then adjust later in profile/location settings.
• People outside your window generally will not appear in nearby discovery.
• Wrong rejections: contact support with your ZIP and city.

Direct messages open after a mutual match. That keeps DMs for people who both showed interest, instead of cold messages from strangers in discovery.

Some plan entitlements can change messaging access in limited ways; those exceptions are called out on Membership and in Billing for your current plan. Community rooms and plan lounges are separate group spaces with their own rules — they are not the same as a private DM thread.

In every conversation you can still block and report. If someone is pushy, scammy, or breaks guidelines, use those tools instead of arguing in-thread.

• Default: mutual match unlocks direct messages.
• Lounges are group spaces — follow each room’s rules and do not spam.
• Report or block anytime from the conversation tools or Report.

For account, billing, verification, or product help, open a trackable ticket from Contact support. We email you a private tracking link so you can read replies and add updates without guessing whether your message was received.

Browse this Help Center first — many questions about plans, badges, events, and safety are answered here and on related info pages. That usually gets you an answer faster than waiting on a ticket for something already documented.

Support is not an emergency line. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 911 (or your local emergency number) first, then contact us after you are safe if an account action is still needed.

• Start here: Help Center topics for common issues.
• Open a ticket at /support and keep your emailed tracking link.
• Emergencies: call 911 — then follow up with support if needed.

Yes. Phone verification confirms you control a US number and is required before an account becomes an active member. Without it, discovery and member features stay locked.

This step is separate from optional Admin Identity Verification (a paid live review with an authorized admin) and from Elite peer qualification. Completing phone verify does not grant those badges or Elite status.

Use a number you can receive codes on. VoIP or recycled numbers sometimes fail delivery — if a legitimate US mobile keeps failing, contact support with the last few digits (never paste full OTPs into tickets).

• Required for active membership — not optional.
• Different from Admin Identity Verified and Elite.
• Overview of badges: Verification info.

Phone Verified means you proved control of a US phone number. It is required for member access and is the baseline trust step for every active account.

Admin Identity Verified is an optional paid live review with an authorized admin. You purchase a verification product, schedule an appointment, and join when prompted. Payment creates a request; only admin approval grants the badge.

Neither badge is a background check, a guarantee of honesty offline, or a shortcut into Elite. Elite is a separate peer-circle path with its own fee, interview, and approval.

• Phone Verified = required US number control for membership.
• Admin Identity Verified = optional live admin review after purchase + approval.
• Details: Verification info and Verification terms.

No. Paying only creates a verification request and starts the appointment flow. You are not Admin Identity Verified until an authorized admin completes and approves the live review.

If you miss the session, leave early, or cannot complete the presence check, the badge stays unapproved until you reschedule and pass per product rules. Declined reviews also do not grant the badge.

Refunds, if any, follow the product page and our refund rules — payment itself is never “buy a badge.” Read the terms before you checkout so expectations match the process.

• Checkout → schedule → live review → admin approval (or not).
• No auto-badge on charge success.
• See Verification terms and what each badge means.

Admin Identity Verified means a completed live review under our process and policies. It does not guarantee honesty, safety, relationship intent, background-check clearance, wealth, or Elite status.

People can still misrepresent motives after a successful review. Treat the badge as one signal among many — not a green light to ignore usual dating caution in Greater Los Angeles.

If someone’s behavior feels wrong after verification, trust that instinct. Use public first meets, block, and report. Badges never replace judgment offline.

• Not a background check or safety guarantee.
• Not Elite membership or peer-circle approval.
• Concerns: Report or support; tips: Safety.

After you purchase Admin Identity Verification, you schedule a live appointment within the published duration window shown in the product flow. Join when prompted using the instructions in Verification after sign-in.

Admins typically run a live presence check and may ask you to follow simple on-camera steps. Have a working camera, stable connection, and a quiet space. Keep government ID ready only if the flow explicitly asks — follow the admin’s instructions for that session.

Missed or incomplete sessions may need rescheduling per product rules. Manage open requests from Verification in your account; do not create duplicate purchases hoping to skip the queue.

• Buy → schedule within the published window → join live.
• Follow admin instructions; incomplete sessions may need a new slot.
• Manage requests in Verification after sign-in; policy: Verification terms.