Granicus Expands Civic Engagement Platform to Help Local Governments Address Impacts of Booming Short-Term Rental Industry

Granicus extends local government digital services momentum with acquisition of market-leading short-term rental compliance management provider

Denver, CO –  November 12, 2019 – Granicus, the leading provider of cloud-based software solutions and digital engagement services for the public sector, today announced that it has acquired Host Compliance, the premier short-term rental compliance SaaS provider delivering a comprehensive suite of solutions designed to help solve local and state governments’ short-term rental registration, compliance monitoring, tax collection, audit and enforcement challenges.

Host Compliance, formed in 2015, has partnered with over 300 North American cities and counties to address the challenges associated with explosive short-term and vacation rental market growth. Merged with STR Helper in 2018, Host Compliance solutions are now utilized by many of North America’s largest cities and most popular destinations including Las Vegas, Denver, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, San Antonio, Charleston, Virginia Beach, Asheville, Bozeman, South Lake Tahoe, Manhattan Beach, Park City and Napa, among many others.  

“While the introduction and expansion of short-term rentals carries convenient and affordable options for travelers, many communities are struggling to balance economic benefits with the challenges associated with unchecked growth, including noise, trash, and parking problems, as well as the long-term impacts on housing affordability and neighborhood character,” said Mark Hynes, CEO of Granicus. “Hundreds of local government leaders have turned to Host Compliance, the clear industry thought leader, to establish sensible short-term rental ordinances and provide modern technologies that simplify digital permitting, automate compliance monitoring, and collect critical tax revenue.”

“Since our founding, our mission at Host Compliance has been to help local governments navigate the complex issues associated with the sharing economy,” said Ulrik Binzer, CEO and Founder of Host Compliance. “By joining forces with Granicus, we’ll be able to scale this vision, bringing fair and effective short-term rental compliance management solutions to even more communities across the country and around the world. It takes significant scale and capital to stay ahead of the rapidly evolving sharing economy, and by being part of Granicus we will be able to drastically expand our investment in technology to make our already market-leading software solutions even better.”

Host Compliance is highly aligned with Granicus’ strategy and commitment to deliver a single, comprehensive platform of digital service transformation that addresses government’s most pressing challenges while supporting a simpler, unified digital experience between governments and their communities. Granicus’ recent introduction of its new product, govService, was designed to turn paper-based civic services such as permits, applications, licenses, payments and other transactions, into fully-automated digital services.

With Host Compliance’s short-term rental compliance management solution integrated into the industry’s first and only unified Civic Engagement Platform, government innovators will have a single partner for modernizing their service relationship with  their residents, now including those associated with the home-sharing economy. As part of Granicus, Host Compliance’s short-term rental compliance management solutions will join dozens of other govService digital services such as 311 reporting, FOIA requests, commercial licensing and residential permitting that leverage common capabilities of the Civic Engagement Platform including a unified resident portal, workflow automation, online payments and transactions, digital communications, compliance management, public input and meeting management, resident self-service, reporting, and many others.

About Granicus

Granicus connects governments with the people they serve by providing the first and only civic engagement platform for the public sector. Nearly 4,500 federal, state and local government agencies and more than 200 million citizen subscribers power an unmatched Subscriber Network that turns government missions into quantifiable results. With comprehensive cloud-based solutions for communications, government website design, meeting and agenda management software, records management, and digital services, Granicus empowers stronger relationships between government and citizens. For more information on how to automate and streamline processes, reduce costs, and increase transparency, visit Granicus.com.

About Host Compliance

Host Compliance is the trusted partner for more than 300 local governments looking to solve their short-term vacation rental compliance challenges. The Company provides software, data, and guidance with unparalleled reliability and scale, empowering local authorities to make the sharing economy work for everyone in their community. To date, Host compliance has helped hundreds of communities efficiently and cost-effectively design, implement, and enforce fair and effective regulations, recover much-needed revenue across all active vacation rental platforms, and preserve community character. With their industry-first satisfaction guarantee and industry-leading customer results, Host Compliance is proud to achieve close to 100% annual customer renewal. For more information, please visit hostcompliance.com.

Media Contact:
Madeline O’Phelan
651.341.3878
madeline.ophelan@granicus.com