City housing staff says Rentalscape software helped find unregistered transient rentals and recoup fees

Housing manager Steven Rucker demonstrated a software platform called Rentalscape from Decker Technologies that the city contracted to monitor advertised transient rentals.

Rucker said the software costs $6,825 annually. He described how the platform matches online listings to city permits and shows advertised daily rates and listing pages. He said the city found 19 properties last year that were not registered and that enforcement recovered about $95,100 in fees and penalties; Rucker said the software “paid for itself last year.”

Rucker showed the commission a dashboard indicating the city collected about $2,600,000 in transient-rental revenue from January 1 through Dec. 31 last year, and that 186 properties appeared on the report. He said the city issues a $500 penalty for advertising without registration in addition to the $500 registration fee and that the software helps staff prioritize inspections and outreach.

Commissioners asked operational questions. Commissioner Kraybill asked how often staff run the audits; Rucker said the process is ongoing as registrations are received and that the program is “in its infancy” for 2025 while the department imports zoning files and schedules inspections. Commissioner Kraybill also asked whether the city can distinguish local owners from out-of-town owners; Rucker said he could provide that information by reviewing mailing addresses on file and noted hosts and management arrangements are visible in the platform.

Rucker said the county also uses a third party to audit listings for bed-tax purposes and that the city’s inspections and certified-mail process will be used when unregistered listings are found. Commissioners and staff said the tool enables more proactive enforcement of transient-rental rules and could reduce previously undercounted listings.