New 24-hour STR monitoring system is up and running

 information released

Community Development is now contracting with an outside agency to provide 24-hour monitoring of short-term rentals in Chelan County.

Deckard Technologies of San Diego is a real estate data analytics and technology company focused on regulatory compliance. For Chelan County, the company is staffing a 24-hour complaint hotline as well as providing an online reporting and tracking system for public complaints.

The five-year contract with Deckard Technologies will cost about $60,000 a year.

The new monitoring options are a natural step in the progression of short-term rental regulation in Chelan County, said Kirsten Ryles, assistant director of Community Development.

“Establishing a short-term rental monitoring service for better regulation has been a long time coming – and one Community Development has been working on for over a year,” Ryles said. “This addition to our toolbox provides citizens another avenue for reporting issues around the clock.”

The services from Deckard Technologies are in addition to the Code Enforcement services provided by the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office. This means the public now has three options if they encounter a short-term rental violation – from noise and parking problems to illegal rentals – in the unincorporated areas of Chelan County:

  • Online: Go to the online Short-Term Rental Complaint form at https://complaints-str.deckard.com/chelan-wa-str-complaints. Fill out the form and submit up to five photo, video or audio files to support the complaint. The complaint will be forwarded to Community Development and Code Enforcement and a record of complaint is made on the property.
  • Hotline: Call the hotline at 509-293-4577. The hotline is monitored by a Deckard staff member who will reach out to the short-term rental’s local contact and ask that the complaint be addressed. If the issue is not abated within an hour, people are encouraged to call the hotline again so it can be documented that a verified complaint was not addressed. The matter then will be turned over to Code Enforcement. In addition, a hotline report is sent daily to Community Development.
  • Code Enforcement: Complaints can be made directly to Code Enforcement at www.co.chelan.wa.us/community-development/pages/code-enforcement. From the county website, download and complete the fillable PDF and then email it to cd.code.enforcement@co.chelan.wa.us. Or call Community Development at 509-667-6225 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. Chelan County has three Code Enforcement deputies who work 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

Ryles reminds the public that it’s never appropriate to call 911 to report a non-life-threatening complaint.

“With three options for reporting short-term rental violations, I encourage people to use these tools,” Ryles said. “The tools are in place to encourage short-term rental owners to be good neighbors.”