B.C. strata ordered to remove $3K fines after Airbnb rentals

[Castanet News]

B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered a strata council to remove $3,000 in fines against an owner who was renting out his unit through Airbnb. In her...

[Phoenix2971]

BS -he knew exactly what he wasn’t allowed to do - short term rentals - he was just trying to make money & in doing so he broke the bylaws. He should be fined. It’s the Tribunal resolution that causes more problems than it solves.

[wendel]

No, he should not be fined. He should be given a medal.

[Connie65]

Very lame tribunal decision.

[dennism3]

Yes lame indeed. When do infractions stick??? Tribunal..more like whitewash

[HanSolo]

Many stratas have a short-term rental restriction to no less than 30 days; this is because the property is not originally purposed as a high-turnover hotel.

In this case, I don't see where the strata did their homework. It should have been easy for them to present the AirBnB ads or other evidence that the owner had it rented for shorter times than the 30 day minimum permitted in the bylaws - unless the owner never actually did rent it out for less than 30 days as was claimed by strata.

When owners start flogging their rental on the daily or weekly, it becomes obvious really fast as the long-term neighbours notice all the different strangers, noise complaints, etc. These guests will straight up tell you they are renting it for only a few days. It's also usually very easy to spot the ads as proof of the bylaw violations. I'm on a council with a similar short-term rental restriction bylaw (1-month minimum rental period) which we have enforced when required. It's not hard, I think this strata was just lazy about burden of proof if the details in the article are correct.