Property owners take NDP government to court over new short-term rental rules

A handful of members of a group of property owners from across B.C., known as the West Coast Association of Property Owners, assembled outside the B.C. Supreme Court in Victoria on Monday during a break in their court case.

A handful of members of a group of property owners from across B.C., known as the West Coast Association of Property Owners, assembled outside the B.C. Supreme Court in Victoria on Monday during a break in their court case.

The group are petitioners in a court action they’ve brought against the provincial government. They’re upset because they operated legal short-term rentals—until the NDP's new short-term rental laws came into effect last month.

“I wouldn’t have paid $200,000 more to own the property if I knew my rights were going to be taken away,” said Cynthia Werbik, a Victoria resident who’s one of the 400 petitioners in the case.

The petitioners are from across B.C., and include people who bought investments in buildings—like the Janion in Victoria—where the units were grandfathered in, allowing Airbnbs to operate. That all changed as of May 1, when in many B.C. communities short-term rentals became only allowed in one’s primary residence.

“When I did purchase the property, I was working three serving jobs, three bartending jobs, just to afford that property,” said Werbik Monday.

The group wants the court to roll back parts of the new law so they can continue with their businesses or be compensated for their losses.

“To challenge this act and find out if it’s unjust, if it’s government overreach and cancelling peoples vested rights,” elaborated the group spokesperson Orion Rodgers.