Hundreds of municipalities are working on identifying and monitoring short term vacation rentals (STRs) to make sure they are in compliance with ordinances, properly licensed and permitted, and collecting lodging taxes. In fact some have selected a vendor to outsource this work. However, that vendor may not be delivering on all the leads that can
E-commerce has exploded and has literally transformed the retail landscape over the past 10 years. Many e-commerce sites have grown with the Ebay auction website, Etsy for hand-crafted goods, and the e-commerce giant Amazon and its Amazon Marketplace. Online e-commerce sellers with high gross sales (Based on transaction or review-based estimates) can prove to
Repair of tangible personal property is taxable in many states, and also is prone to cash-based transactions. Therefore, there is a significant risk of a cash economy and state sales tax not being collected. Many online websites have appeared where consumers can look for reputable service providers such as AngiesList, HomeAdvisor or Craigslist. These websites
When municipalities seek to regulate short term rentals, often something that is overlooked is the permitting system. In fact the permit number has significant value to Code Compliance departments that have to make sure everyone’s on the same level playing field. Here are some suggestions on how to design permit numbers: Always put the year
The advent of sharing economy B2C services has spawned new B2B services for businesses that have a significant e-commerce operation. For example, Darkstore is a company that offers a mobile app containing shipping and logistics providers in a database. In fact their website advocates “same day service fulfillment” for e-commerce sites. This has obvious implications
If your condo building or homeowner’s association has problems with AirBnB operators running illegal short term rentals, there is a solution. Harmari by LTAS, leaders in online investigation and data mining since 2011 have launched a short term rental monitoring solution specific to property management companies struggling with AirBnB problems. Harmari provides the following service:
Harmari recently released a 20-minute training video on the technical challenges associated with detecting short term rentals (STRs, also known as STVRs) that are non-registered or under-reporting for lodging tax (also known as TOT, transient lodging tax, transient occupancy tax, bed tax, accommodations tax, etc). Key metrics are discussed that help estimate identification and monitoring
David Krauss, the founder of NoiseAware, has developed technology that detects party house activity, excessive noise and alerts the short term rental (STR) operator before the neighbours complain and the cops show up. Marketed as a “smoke detector for noise”, the device works by connecting wirelessly to the residence’s network, and will notify by email
Many municipalities and counties are considering what to do regarding short term vacation rentals in their neighbourhoods. Here are some reasons in favour of a regulated, licensed environment: Level the playing field for the Hospitality Industry AirBnb is currently seeking funding at a valuation of $30 Bn, which puts its valuation larger than Hilton Worldwide
The short term rental compliance industry has recently sprung up as a major concern amongst cities and counties in North America. The challenge of ensuring compliance is that many of the major short term rental listing sites do not fully identify the name of the operator/manager and address of the properties offered. Several vendors out