the City of Toronto cracks down on short-term rentals.
As of November 2019, the Permits and registration of short-term rentals A regulation has come into effect, under which short-term rental operators – including those who operate Airbnbs – are subject to a maximum allowance of 180 days, meaning they are allowed to rent out their properties for up to 180 days per calendar year.
The by-law was enacted in an effort to limit short-term rental activity in Toronto to primary residences, prevent the proliferation of “ghost hotels” and protect essential rental stock by maintaining tenants’ access to long-term housing. Short-term rental companies had until December 31, 2020 to comply with the new regulations.
From now on, the City keeps its promise to investigate and sanction any case of non-compliance.
In a statement to STOREYS, a city spokesperson explains that a compliance team has been tasked with monitoring data from short-term rental companies for violations of the 180-night maximum allowance.
“If operators fail to comply with this requirement, the City issues a ‘takedown’ notice to remove short-term rental listings, and the short-term rental company notifies operators of the reasons why their listings were removed. removed,” the statement continued. say. “Operators are responsible for monitoring the total number of nights (whether on one platform or across multiple platforms) that their short-term rentals are rented out and ensuring that they comply with the regulations. Failure to comply with the regulations may result in the revocation of an operator’s registration.
According to the City’s website, violating this particular rule can also result in a $700 fine.
Additionally, the city’s compliance team actively removes all listings without a valid registration number, using data discovery techniques and working closely with Airbnb and Booking.com. This is in addition to investigating non-compliance complaints reported to 311.
The fine for failing to properly register a short term rental is $1,000. The fine could increase to $100,000 if the operators are summoned to court and convicted.
The City of Toronto defines a short-term rental as “all or part of a dwelling rented for less than 28 consecutive days in exchange for payment”.
A full list of regulations, along with penalties for non-compliance, can be viewed on the City’s website. website.
Zakiya is an editor at STOREYS. She has reported on real estate for Post City Magazines, Apartment Therapy and Curbed. She also writes a quarterly series for a Canadian design publication.
Comments are closed.