Offenders fall through the cracks in short-term rental rules

In the past, it was marijuana grow operations that posed a costly nuisance for landlords. Today, it’s people who are willing to flout the law to make easy cash on a site like Airbnb, willing to risk the consequences of fines – if they face any consequences at all.

“Unfortunately, I think there’s a huge group that are [saying], ‘just giving me the slap on the wrist. I’ll make my money and I’ll pay my fine.’ It’s the cost of doing business, of [saying] ‘I’m going to go bump the rules and I know all the ways around it, and there’s so much protection for tenants that I’m going to use it now to my benefit,’” says Mark Teasdale, chief operations officer for Vancouver property management company Unique Real Estate Accommodations.