Many cities and counties throughout the world struggle with regulating short term rentals. Core to this discussion is the knowledge of where they are, and who is operating them. Unfortunately, what is publicly available on the short term rental websites themselves is rather limited. In fact, in some cases STR operators intentionally post false or misleading photos and metadata to shake the trail.
Supporting evidence screenshots are critical to the identification. Without that, you’re left with the “approximate” listing data that could be off from the true location by up to 0.3 miles. As previously stated on our blog, we do not simply sell address lists. With Harmari STR, you are guaranteed a minimum of 2 screenshots of supporting evidence which squarely identifies the short term rental listing with other publicly available records. Why 2 and not 1? Here’s a simple example. Below is a screenshot of an exterior view of a house from Google Street View of a street starting with street number 545. However, if you look closely at the number on the house, it’s 602. Google Street View is rather inaccurate when it comes to finding exact street addresses. This data needs to be corroborated with a County Appraisal District land record, which confirms that this property is at the street number you expected.
By including at least 2 pieces of supporting evidence, Harmari STR is able to warrant and guarantee accuracy at its high level for customers. Supporting evidence is just one of the ways we are better at short term rental compliance. Consider the following series of questions as you shape your compliance program
- Does your current short term rental compliance program include at least 2 pieces of supporting evidence?
- How many mis-identifications could have been prevented if the proper corroborating evidence was found ahead of time?
- Does your staff have to do “extra research” to make up for short-comings of your current short term rental compliance program?
Contact Us today to see how supporting evidence can move the needle on short term rental compliance in your municipality.