ASTRO Opens City Watch Regulatory Data to Booking Software

Source-cited short-term rental research across more than 840 U.S. markets, now available to booking and property-management software

PICAYUNE, MS, UNITED STATES, October 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — ASTRO, the Association of Short-Term Rental Owners, today opened City Watch, its research on short-term rental regulation, to booking software through an API. Booking and property-management software can now bring ASTRO’s market-by-market regulatory research directly into the tools hosts use to set up and run their rentals.

Each City Watch market record includes an ASTRO-written summary of the regulatory finding, a link to its cited primary source, and the market’s current rating status. Coverage continues to expand as additional rules and changes are researched.

“Every owner, and everyone thinking of becoming one, needs a place to start,” said James McRaney, founder of ASTRO. “The rules matter most at the moment you set up a listing, and that happens inside your booking software. City Watch gives that software a researched, cited reference to build its own due diligence on, so owners and their tools start from the same facts.”

City Watch is also open to the public at www.theASTRO.org. Prospective owners can look up the rules in a city and its neighboring towns before they buy, since a short drive across a city or county line can mean a different set of rules entirely.

Researched and sourced

Every summary is written by ASTRO and linked to the primary source it’s based on, so providers and owners can go straight to the authority’s own text. Ratings describe a market, and each provider decides what to require of its hosts after reviewing the source.

First in production

ReturnOS, hosted booking and property-management software, is the first to put the feed into production. ReturnOS mapped every City Watch market currently available through the feed into its U.S. State & Local Compliance review layer. ReturnOS displays ASTRO’s summary, rating, disclaimer and cited source link unchanged, and turns regulatory findings into operational compliance requirements only after primary-source review and owner confirmation.

“ASTRO’s City Watch gives us a strong regulatory research layer without asking us to outsource compliance judgment. ReturnOS can show hosts ASTRO’s summary, source and rating transparently, while keeping the operational decision on our side until we have reviewed the primary source ourselves. And even then, the final decision about the property remains with the owner. That separation between research, platform review and owner control is exactly what made the integration work for us,” said Christian Perger, Co-Founder and CEO, ReturnOS, Inc.

Bring City Watch into your software

Booking and property-management software teams can now request API access at www.theASTRO.org/programs/city-watch/api.

About ASTRO

ASTRO, the Association of Short-Term Rental Owners, is an owner-first membership organization. It maintains a neutral registry of short-term rental properties, helps owners build portable property profiles they can take to the software of their choice, and publishes City Watch, its research on short-term rental regulation. Learn more at www.theASTRO.org.

About ReturnOS

ReturnOS is an AI-native Operations Platform for independent accommodation owners and operators. It connects revenue, distribution, direct commerce, payments, operations, workforce, compliance, guest journeys and relationship intelligence in one operating layer, while keeping the owner in control of the property, guest relationship and commercial decisions. Its guest-facing network, my4u.travel, connects participating hosts and direct-booking opportunities across markets while preserving host choice and guest consent. Learn more at GetReturnOS.com.

James McRaney
Association of Short-Term Rental Owners
+1 888-402-7876
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