Rental Compliance

TIDY researches, organizes, and manages the requirements for operating a rental at a specific address. Rental Compliance checks short-term rental (STR) and long-term rental (LTR) rules, gives you an at-a-glance eligibility verdict, and turns the applicable requirements into tracked work.

Choosing a Rental Type: STR vs. LTR

Compliance requirements differ depending on how you intend to rent a property. TIDY records the operating strategy during setup; you can review or change it with the STR/LTR toggle:

• Short-Term Rental (STR) – Properties rented for short stays, such as vacation rentals or listings on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo. STRs typically face the most regulation (permits, occupancy taxes, safety inspections, and more).
• Long-Term Rental (LTR) – Properties rented for extended periods under a standard lease. LTRs generally have a different (and often smaller) set of requirements than STRs.

When you switch rental types, TIDY updates the eligibility verdict and the list of applicable items so you only see what matters for the way you plan to operate.

Section 8 and PHA Approval

A Housing Choice Voucher tenancy adds a PHA-specific process on top of ordinary LTR compliance. TIDY identifies the PHA, completes owner enrollment, prepares and submits the tenancy packet, coordinates the official inspection and repairs, and tracks rent and tenancy approval.

The unit shows four separate readiness areas:

• Rental compliance — local registration, habitability, lead, insurance, and other address-level LTR requirements.
• Owner readiness — payee, W-9, ownership or management authority, PHA vendor enrollment, and payment instructions.
• Unit readiness — the applicable PHA inspection standard, preparation, open deficiencies, official result, and next inspection.
• Tenancy readiness — voucher, RFTA, approved rent split, lease, HUD tenancy addendum, and HAP contract for the specific household.

Only the PHA can issue the official unit, rent, and tenancy approvals. TIDY manages the work needed to obtain and maintain those approvals without treating a prior approval as a permanent property certification. See Section 8 & Housing Choice Vouchers.

Eligibility Verdicts

At the top of the report, an eligibility verdict card tells you whether the selected rental type is permitted at the address. Each verdict is one of four statuses:

• Allowed – The rental type appears to be permitted at this address, subject to meeting the listed requirements.
• Prohibited – The rental type appears to be banned at this address.
• Conditional – The rental type may be allowed, but only if specific conditions are met (for example, owner-occupancy or a capped number of nights per year).
• Unknown – There isn’t enough information to determine eligibility. You may need to contact your local jurisdiction directly.

Running a Compliance Check

TIDY runs a compliance check when a property is added, its rental strategy changes, or a tracked rule needs refreshing. The progress screen shows each research step and its status. Once complete, you can review the eligibility verdict, summary statistics, and the full list of compliance work organized into sections.

The summary shows item counts, the categories included, and the date the report was last updated so you always know how fresh the information is.

Compliance Sections

Compliance items are grouped into six collapsible sections so you can focus on one area at a time. Expand or collapse any section to manage the level of detail you see:

• Blockers – Critical items that must be resolved before you can legally operate. These are the highest priority.
• Before Listing – Requirements to complete before you publish a listing or take on a tenant.
• Operate – Ongoing requirements that apply while the property is actively rented.
• Taxes – Tax registration, collection, and remittance obligations such as occupancy or lodging taxes.
• Admin – Administrative and recordkeeping items needed to stay in good standing.
• Recommended – Best-practice items that aren’t strictly required but help reduce risk.

Understanding Compliance Items

Each item includes detail to help you understand what it is and why it applies. Opening an item shows additional metadata:

• Applies to – Whether the item is relevant to STR, LTR, or both.
• Importance – A level of critical, required, admin, or recommended, indicated visually so you can prioritize at a glance.
• Source – Where the requirement comes from, with source attribution so you can verify the underlying rule.

Items that don’t apply to your selected rental type are filtered out automatically, so the list stays focused on what’s relevant to you.

Filtering and Search

For addresses with many requirements, you can narrow the list using:

• Status filter – Show only items in a particular state (for example, incomplete items still needing attention).
• Search – Type a keyword to quickly find a specific requirement.

TIDY marks items complete as it obtains the required filing, approval, or evidence. Authorized team members can also update one item or a whole section when work is completed outside TIDY, with the supporting record attached.

By-the-Room / Rooming House Compliance

Rooming houses carry regulatory obligations that whole-unit rentals don’t. Each unit split into rooms has its own compliance checklist — rooming house license, fire inspection, and so on — with a status per item:

• Complete – Done.
• Pending – In progress or awaiting confirmation.
• Action needed – Carries a due date, highlighted so it doesn’t slip.

Which items apply is driven by the unit’s occupancy classification — Standard tenancy or Rooming house — chosen in Room Setup. The checklist lives on the split unit’s detail page.

Related Documentation

• Compliance & Safety Overview – Tools for managing pro insurance, certifications, and safety
• Room Splitting – Converting a property to by-the-room rentals and managing rooms
• Section 8 & Housing Choice Vouchers – PHA approval, inspection, agreements, HAP, and ongoing administration
• Properties Overview – Managing the properties you run compliance checks against
• Getting Started with TIDY – Set up your account and properties