Rental Registries and the Business of Providing a Home

Rental registries are a valuable tool for local governments. These databases, which list rental properties within a given jurisdiction and their owners, provide transparency about who owns rental housing, create communication pathways between city agencies and residential rental property owners (RRPOs), promote market stability, and can be adapted to support a range of housing policy objectives. Here I review the different components and current debates related to municipal rental registry systems and then suggest an approach to implementation that is tailored to local needs and builds on established norms for business licensing.