'Fairbnb' urges Vancouver to enforce short term rental rules

It'scurrently illegal to rent outyour home on sites like Airbnbin Vancouver unless you have a hotel or licensed bed and breakfast.

But as anyone who has perused the site knows,thousands of people are skirting the rules.

Now, a national organization called Fairbnb,comprised of a coalition of hospitality unions and other groups, is releasing aplan to crack down on illegal use of the site.

Their idea: makeAirbnbresponsible for the listings on their site, and make sure they follow the law.

ThorbenWieditzfrom theFairbnbcoalition says thatwhile he believesVancouver has taken the right approach by proposing to limitshort term rentals to primary residences and prohibitthe use of secondary suites or laneway houses the policy requires teeth to be effective.

"The regulatory approach in Vancouver stops shy of actually ensuring that their policy will be enforceable. This is why we issued this report to highlight this quite big loophole," he said.

"Itallows the city to put forward a regulatory framework that looks good, has all the right ingredients but it also allows Airbnbto further grow their unlawful listings meaning multi-listing hosts and properties held by investorswithout being held accountable."

Proposes permit system

Wieditzsaid that according to Fairbnb, the ideal approach would be to require that all hosts have alicense or permit,to ensure all units being offered up are legal, safe and areprincipalresidences.

"As soon as you generate a permit number,you have to ensurewebsiteslike Airbnbare only allowed to list, advertise, and profit off of properties that have a permit number."

Wieditz said this approach could help avoid situations that have played out in other cities, where in some cases landlords and investors have snapped up multiple units and turned them into full time rental properties.

"This policy would ensurethat any available units that could potentially be on the long term rental market for Vancouverites are being placed back into the long term rental market," he said.

Wieditzsaid this approach is being considered by cities like Toronto and San Francisco.

The City of Vancouver has not yet commented on the report, butis set to holdpublic hearings on a new law that could allow some short-term rentals onAirbnb later in the fall.