On Thursday the town of Fort Myers Beach announced it was moving to a new short-term rental software. The new software will help town staff monitor short-term rentals and identify renters not following the rules.
Nearly every house and condo on Fort Myers Beach is eligible to be rented either weekly or monthly. When this was all set up decades ago there didn’t seem to be much of a system to how it was done. In fact in some cases one side of a street could be monthly rentals while the other side weekly. Monthly rentals are only allowed to rent a minimum of one week or less per month. If someone only rents that monthly for 7 or 10 days, according to the rules, that unit would have to remain empty for the rest of the month. Weekly rentals are allowed to rent once per week. So if someone rents for only 3 days that unit is supposed to remain empty for the balance of the week. If those rules are not followed the property owner faces a code violation.
Previously the town had a staff member monitoring Airbnb and VRBO in addition to taking complaints from neighbors who witnessed property owners breaking the short-term rental rules and call it into a town hotline. The new software brings everything in-house.
The new software will flag properties that violate the rules and immediately notify town staff. And, it automatically sends out the violation to the property owner. It’s also a safety net for property owners so they can make sure that a vendor they are using to help rent their property is not renting without telling them.
The software is called Rentalscape and a town press release said the software, “will allow the town to easily keep track of our current and new rentals on the island.”
Coastal Vacation Properties Chief Operating Officer Brock Buchanan told Beach Talk Radio news the company welcomes the town’s implementation of Rentalscape. “As a step towards responsible growth on the island, we understand the importance of maintaining transparency and accountability. It’s efficient to know where each rental is located and who manages each rental. In the event of an emergency, the Town needs to know who to contact for each property. This improvement should help all of us collectively as we look to better serve our residents, vacation rental owners, and visitors.”
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