“It’s really like putting a gun in your face,” he said. Papineau said fines could be detrimental to his business as it continues to grow. In a statement, the province’s Tourism Department said it’s developing such an interface, but added that online rental platforms already have “everything necessary,” including secure government-issued PDF seals, to start authenticating the numbers by Sept. The companies are calling on the government to build a software interface that can quickly cross-reference the province’s private database of approved registration numbers with host-provided numbers. “It’s a very archaic way, almost a 1980s way of working,” Papineau said of the Quebec-imposed verification process.īoth WeChalet and Airbnb say they’re willing to verify listings but assert Quebec needs to do more to help them comply. Airbnb, meanwhile, argues that the certificates are vulnerable to fabrication. Papineau said each PDF certificate has to be manually verified, a process he says places an unreasonable burden on small companies like WeChalet. “It’s a bit like if you ask (the) Titanic … to stop right away at a stop light and turn right on the spot.” “We’re definitely not prepared,” he said. Three months is simply not enough time to comply with the new rules, said Dany Papineau, CEO of WeChalet, a Montreal-based short-term rental startup with 2,200 listings. The law was introduced after the fire in an Old Montreal building that killed seven people in March, six of whom were staying in unlicensed short-term rentals.īogus registration numbers such as “000000” and “123456” are still visible in multiple Quebec Airbnb listings while the company and the province debate how best to verify rental operators’ licences.Īirbnb argues that the credentials the government issues to operators in the form of a PDF can be fabricated and are burdensome to verify, while provincial officials warn that the company risks fines of up to $100,000 for each remaining fraudulent number on its website after Sept. Quebec rental property operators offering stays of 31 days or less have to display registration numbers from the province’s tourism industry regulator in their listings, with a new law requiring platforms such as Airbnb to begin verifying those numbers as of Sept. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Meanwhile, the Quebec government and Airbnb are at odds over how to identify illegal short-term rental listings that persist on the platform as the deadline approaches for the company to ensure compliance with provincial law. Plante’s announcement comes as a growing number of housing and tenants’ rights groups argue that short-term rentals are contributing in large part to the housing crisis in Montreal and elsewhere in Quebec. The mayor also urged anyone with information on illegal tourist accommodations to contact the city’s 311 information line. Plante said that apart from returning numerous dwellings to the housing market, the city inspectors would also contribute to fighting the problems of cleanliness, noise and security that can occur with the “illegal exploitation of establishments for tourist accommodations.” The squad, which will work in collaboration with inspectors from Revenue Quebec who enforce regulations for tourist accommodations, will be deployed in the boroughs of Plateau-Mont-Royal, Ville-Marie (which covers downtown) and Sud-Ouest (which includes Griffintown). Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.
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