BY STEFANIE BOWMANN, Eastern Shore Post —
Northampton County supervisors are considering the services of an online firm to attain compliance with regulations for short-term vacation rental homes, which are currently under development.
Granicus provides governments and schools with digital solutions to help them streamline workflows, improve public services, and increase community engagement.
Less than 10% of short-term-rental owners voluntarily register their businesses and pay all related taxes, according to Granicus representative Kester Bonsu.
It is “incredibly time-consuming for most communities” to track down the remaining 90%, he said.
The number of short-term rentals is growing and that further impedes a locality’s ability to identify all of them, Bonsu said.
According to his presentation, there are 15 times as many short-term-rental listings in the current global marketplace as there were in 2011, and vacation rental homes outperformed hotels in 27 global markets within the last year.
Moreover, complaints about short-term rentals more than doubled within the last year, and because the properties are offered on hundreds of platforms, it is nearly impossible to track all of them manually.
Noncompliance with regulations can mean lost revenue for the locality and diminished neighborhood character and housing affordability for residents.
As of January, there were 630 listings for short-term rental properties in Northampton County, representing more than 500 unique rental units, according to Granicus.
At least 38% of the listings were for single-family homes, but 62% of the home types were unknown.
Similarly, at least 44% of the offerings were entire homes, but 56% of the unit types were unknown.
The mid-range price per night of the rentals was $266.
Nearly 200 of the listings, more than 150 unique rental units, were for properties in the unincorporated areas of the county.
Northampton County’s ability to permit and register short-term rental homes, collect taxes, and help resolve complaints would center on the Granicus address identification system.
The system scans for rental listings on more than 60 websites. A combination of artificial intelligence and human analysts determine the exact address and owner information for each short-term-rental home identified.
A record of each short-term-rental home is maintained, which may include photos of the property, automatically captured and time-stamped screenshots of rental listings, and case notes.
A 24/7 hotline is available for concerned neighbors to report incidents by phone or online. A complainant will be asked to submit proof of an alleged violation via photo or video.
If the property is registered, Granicus Host Compliance will call or text the property’s host or emergency contact to seek acknowledgment and resolution of the complaint. Resolution notes are entered into the database to hold repeat offenders accountable.
The company said it offers modular pricing and will tailor its services to Northampton County’s short-term rental needs.
Granicus is currently partnering with 16 local agencies in Virginia to address challenges with short-term vacation rental homes, including the cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and Hampton.
