01 - The Challenge

A compliance team doing the right work, the hard way

Perched on the edge of Lake Erie, Sandusky draws tourists every summer with attractions like Cedar Point, Kalahari Resorts, and Castaway Bay. To keep neighborhoods vibrant for both residents and visitors, the city has capped short-term rental permits at 99 and developed a zoning framework that protects residential areas.

With STRs playing a growing role in the local economy, Sandusky's code compliance team took enforcement seriously,  and it showed. Staff were already finding and addressing unregistered listings through diligent manual reviews. The work was happening. But it was exhausting.

Every two weeks, the team would spend roughly 80 hours manually scanning rental platforms to identify unregistered properties. With a small team and limited capacity, that time came directly at the expense of other priorities. The city saw an opportunity: not to change what they were doing, but to do it smarter.

02 - The Solution

Automated monitoring that works while your team focuses elsewhere

Sandusky adopted Rentalscape to automate what had previously required weeks of manual platform review. With continuous monitoring running in the background, the team's workflow shifted entirely,  from hunting for violations to simply acting on them.

"After adopting Rentalscape's automated monitoring, the data-gathering now happens with a few clicks instead of weeks of manual effort. It's been a godsend."

 

Stephen Rucker, Housing Manager, City of Sandusky

The platform continuously monitors STR activity across all major listing platforms, surfacing unregistered properties and flagging activity that falls outside Sandusky's zoning framework. What once required two-week cycles of manual work now surfaces instantly.

The team has also used Rentalscape to strengthen host accountability, actively encouraging operators to include their permit numbers in listings, making compliance easier to verify and communication more straightforward.

03 - Results

More found, less time spent, and a deterrent effect

The results came quickly. Within the first year, Rentalscape uncovered 19 unregistered STRs, nearly 20% of Sandusky's total permit cap, more than justifying the investment on its own.

04 - What's Next

Your team deserves better tools

If your team is already doing good enforcement work but burning hours on manual platform searches, Rentalscape was built for exactly this. See what 80 hours every two weeks could look like redirected toward the work that matters most.