Owner of illegal hostel arrested and detained in North Vancouver

The owner of a notorious illegal hostel in North Vancouver was arrested Tuesday after she allegedly tried to block potential buyers from viewing her townhouse, in defiance of a court order.

This summer, a judge ordered the sale of Emily Yu's three-bedroom suite at 230 13th St. W, in part to pay off more than $52,000 in legal fees her strata incurred trying to force her to shut down an illegal short-term rental.

North Vancouver RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Peter DeVries confirmed that Yu was temporarily detained on Tuesday afternoon as prospective buyers visited the property.

"We received a request from the Supreme Court bailiffs to stand by and keep the peace while they enforced a B.C. Supreme Court order," DeVries told CBC.

"We did have to make an arrest of a female who ... attempted to obstruct the bailiffs, and she was detained until they were able to enact the court order, at which point she was released."

Yu has been in and out of court over the last two years as the city and strata have tried to shut down her "Oasis Hostel," and she's been repeatedly found in contempt of various court orders.

At one point, she was advertising up to 15 beds on sites like Airbnb, iBooked.ca and TripAdvisor. The operation violated strata bylaws, and the city described it as a nuisance and a fire hazard.