This whole apartment building in the Rosemont borough of Montreal is Airbnbs

A Montreal apartment building is being used entirely to house Airbnbs, Radio-Canada has learned.

The building, consisting of four three-bedroom units on Alma Street in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, is in an area where short-term rentals like Airbnb are supposed to be prohibited.

The online listing boasts that each apartment can accommodate up to 16 people: four per bedroom and four in the living room.

“There are parties that never end, there are raves that go on until 11 a.m. the next morning,” said a neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous. “I saw police passing by at least twice, but there were others that I didn’t see myself. It’s back and forth.”

By renting the apartments repeatedly, the owner of the building violates provincial and municipal regulations. However, elected officials in the borough say they have little power to enforce the rules.

What the rules say

“What you describe, which is your nightmare, is also ours,” said the mayor of Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, François Limoges.

Since May 2020, anyone wishing to rent their main or secondary residence must obtain a registration number from the tourist group of Quebec, the Quebec Tourism Industry Corporation. Failure to do so can result in fines ranging from $2,500 to $25,000.

In addition, the borough of Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie has banned short-term rentals everywhere except on a section of St-Hubert Street known as Plaza Saint-Hubert.

But to apply it, someone would have to bring the offender to Superior Court. If found guilty of an offence, the expected fine would be only $300, less than one night’s stay in the building on Alma Street.

Limoges said there was very little support from the province, which dictates what it can and cannot do to enforce the law.

“To go to court, you need direct evidence,” Limoges said. “You can’t have circumstantial evidence, which means an inspector can’t go to Airbnb, take a screenshot of the page, and then go to court with that. That’s not considered good enough. .”

Building to be condos

The owner of the building on rue Alma admitted to Radio-Canada that he had not obtained the registration numbers of his devices.

He said the short-term rentals were temporary, as he tries to sort out the permits needed to turn the building’s rental apartments into condos. His goal is to convert them by the end of the year.

Airbnb said in a statement that it is taking “all necessary steps” to ensure hosts follow Quebec rules and regulations. He did not explain why the platform allows ads that violate laws.

“There is really work to be done with online platforms, to force them to comply with regulations,” said Dominique Ollivier, president of the executive committee of Montreal and municipal councilor of Vieux-Rosemont.

To avoid compromising its investigations, Revenu Québec has not disclosed how many inspectors it has or how it investigates short-term rental housing.

However, tickets issued under the rules have increased more than tenfold over the past two years, from 135 in 2019-20 to 1,747 in 2021-22 (as of February).

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