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Already, companies such as Seattle-based Host Compliance are offering their services to municipalities to assist regulators with enforcement. The company is already working with 300 cities in North America, including 23 in Canada.
Host Compliance, and others like it, use web-crawling tools to document listings and then cross-check against municipal licensing records to determine whether the hosts are following local regulations. Those found guilty receive a letter on the municipal letterhead with a screenshot of their listing.
(Interestingly, some Airbnb hosts in Kingston, Ont., objected to the use of an American firm to “spy” on them. The hosts were not as concerned about listing their properties on Airbnb, which is also a U.S.-based firm.)
While residents of freehold properties may not be able to restrict how neighbouring properties are used, those living in condominiums have some muscle to flex. Condominium corporations, regulated mostly by provincial acts, can define or restrict specific uses within the building. In Toronto, for instance, condominium bylaws have been amended to introduce minimum rental periods of one or six months. A high-end residential building in downtown Toronto fined a violator $5,000 for not adhering to the bylaws.
Regulating STR has been a challenge across the globe. Regulators from Christchurch to St. Louis are struggling to determine the scale and scope of regulations. If regulations are too restrictive, they will pre-empt innovation in and disruption to a business model that has not evolved over centuries. If they are too lax, consumers and the larger public might be adversely affected.
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