The City of Montreal is tackling illegal Airbnb units by cutting off lock boxes that store keys for short-term tenants.
Boxes can only be accessed using the correct code.
Airbnb owners give the code to their tenants so they can collect keys and other items.
Montreal blue collar workers have been given the green light from city administrators to immediately saw down any lock boxes they come across, except those located in designated tourist areas.
The home-sharing service has caused headaches for city officials.
Safes are the latest innovation for Airbnb users.
“We are seeing more and more of these lock boxes attached to public property,” said Alex Norris, councilor for Plateau. “The reason why these operators of short-term illegal tourist residents are doing it is because it is more difficult to associate [the home] with an individual address.
Besides city officials, residents have also received numerous complaints about Airbnb.
Often the guests are loud and leave garbage.
The app may also inadvertently promote criminal activity.
“Someone can create a fake account on Airbnb and it takes two seconds,” said Réal Carbonneau, a resident of Ville-Marie. “You can be a prostitute or a drug dealer, which happens a lot. This is why it is a problem.
Some Airbnb hosts are okay with the city’s latest efforts and say they’re just going to move the location of their vaults.
“We could just take it out and put it on private property,” said Layla, an Airbnb user in the McGill ghetto. “It was just easier for [renters] to be found in the public domain.
The city estimates that 8,000 units are rented on Airbnb in the city center and the Plateau.
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