This B.C. landlord was shocked to find his rental suite listed on Airbnb. Now, he wants stricter regulations
CBC
A landlord in Vancouver is calling on the provincial government to tighten regulations for short-term rentals after he was surprised to find his tenant was illegally listing his suite on Airbnb.
David Wojtowicz says he got an email from his building manager last January that said there was an illegal short-term rental taking place in the furnished one-bedroom suite he was renting out for $3,000 a month in the trendy Olympic Village neighbourhood.
Wojtowicz discovered that his tenant had removed all of his possessions and had listed the suite on Airbnb. The building's ownership prohibits short-term rentals, with a penalty of $1,000 per day for infractions.
After struggling with both the City of Vancouver and Airbnb to have the operation shut down, Wojtowicz wants the province to institute stricter laws for short-term rental operators, to verify their listings are operating legally.
"There's an entity, Airbnb, that's just kind of floating there as a kind of black market, underground facilitator of illegal short-term rentals," Wojtowicz told CBC News.
"There's some fixes that really should happen."
On Friday, the province reiterated that it will introduce legislation to address concerns about short-term rentals in the fall session.
"Local governments need additional tools to address challenges related to compliance and enforcement of local bylaws governing short-term rentals, and we're delivering on those needs," Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said in a written statement.
Wojtowicz says the problem started last January.
When he went to see what was happening in the suite after the call from the building manager, he says he found two British tourists who told him they had rented it for about $1,200 for a four-night stay.
"The apartment was a mess," Wojtowicz said.
The tenant's possessions had been removed, Wojtowicz says, with only the owners' furniture remaining. The mattress was in the living room, clothes were hanging from the ceiling sprinklers and there were cigarette butts in the garbage.
When Wojtowicz and his husband found the listing on Airbnb, it already had six reviews from the previous month, and more bookings appeared to be scheduled. The listing was being managed by a short-term rental management company.
The tenant's lease, which Wojtowicz shared with CBC News, clearly states that no short-term rentals are allowed and the tenant must follow strata bylaws, which also do not allow short-term rentals.
