RentSmart Boston is a City of Boston address-search tool designed to help prospective tenants learn about a residential property’s recorded history before renting. Users enter an address to generate information about issues associated with the property, including housing, building and enforcement violations, housing complaints, sanitation requests, and civic maintenance requests.13
The project brings together records from BOS:311 and the City’s Inspectional Services Division. It was developed through a collaboration between Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development and Department of Innovation and Technology; the City’s Analytics Team is the contact point for questions about the dashboard.23 The data is also published through Analyze Boston, where the RentSmart dataset is attributed to DoIT Data & Analytics and listed as updated daily.2
The available dataset describes RentSmart’s current coverage as the past five years of property complaints and violations, with records dating from 2016 onward.2 The tool’s purpose is to make those records easier for renters to consult; the sources describe the information it provides, but do not report measured outcomes or an evaluation of its impact.23 A local report announced the tool’s launch in September 2017.11