The Case for Rental Registries: Uncovering Ownership

Rental properties are a vital and volatile portion of the housing market, but planners are often left in the dark about the owners. Whether the landlord is an individual or an ownership entity, more data gives planners a better ability to serve tenants and the community as a whole.

Despite the benefits of these lists, ranging from minimal to thoroughly detailed, opponents express concern over the data collected for public use.

In "Rental Registries and the Business of Providing a Home" (Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 91, No. 2) Jane Rongerude details the value of rental registries for cities and encourages planners to anticipate concerns.

Connecting Cities with Rental Property Owners

Rental registries serve as a public database that lists every rental property in a city. The data give planners key insights about rental units and who owns them. At a minimum, registries include a mailing address and contact information for the owner or ownership entity.

Transparency within local housing markets allows cities to see who is investing in the community and track changes in the rental housing stock over time. Contact information in registries gives city representatives the ability to communicate directly with residential rental property owners, which can be essential during a crisis.

This channel of communication allows for the dissemination of information on housing laws and tenant rights. Rental registries can further help protect tenants by logging evictions, and inspections, and tracking compliance with rent stabilization programs.

Addressing Concerns About Rental Registries

While the author posits rental registries as a valuable tool for local governments, Rongerude also acknowledges the viewpoints of those opposed to data collection. Opponents often question the constitutionality, efficiency, efficacy, and necessity of a registry.

They argue that rental registries and proactive inspections violate Fourth Amendment protections against unlawful search and seizure. Privacy of residential rental property owners and tenants (if listed) is also a common concern.

In addition to the costs of designing and maintaining the database, rental registries can include fees for landlords. Cities looking to create new rental registry systems should anticipate this resistance and proceed thoughtfully in accordance with concerns.

Registries expand the data available to planners and, in doing so, enable targeted interventions and facilitate long-term planning and policymaking. Wise to potential concerns, policymakers should engage stakeholders and focus on the most essential data for their needs when creating new rental registries.

Figure 1: Rental registries categories and fields.

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