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Over 1,000 Airbnb listings in Vancouver display expired licences

By Chen Zhou and Rohana Rezel British Columbia’s much anticipated short-term rental regulations are coming into force on May 1. Short-term rental operators will be required to display valid local government business licence numbers, where business licences are required, as is the case in Vancouver. But with just over a week to go before the […]

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At least 40% of Airbnb listings violate Vancouver bylaws

By Rohana Rezel Our scan of Airbnb listings carried out during the first week of May 2022 shows that at least 894 of the 2,212 short-term (less than 30 nights) accommodation listings on Airbnb are in breach of one or more of the City of Vancouver short-term rental bylaws. Summary Visible Number of Airbnb Listings […]

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City of Vancouver renews Airbnb operators’ licence even after Supreme Court ruled they wrongfully evicted a tenant to make way for short-term rental

The City of Vancouver has renewed a short-term rental operators’ business licence even after the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled that the pair had wrongfully evicted a tenant to list the rental unit on Airbnb. Last year, the Supreme Court upheld the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) decision to award $14,500 to a tenant against […]

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Tribunal upholds $14,500 award for tenant wrongfully evicted to make way for Airbnb

The Supreme Court of British Columbia has dismissed a judicial review of a Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) decision to award $14,500 to a tenant wrongfully evicted by the landlords who went onto list the rental unit on Airbnb. The landlords Robert Blouin and Leslie Ng had contested the decision by June 2020 decision by the […]

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Chinese-only: Richmond Airbnb host only wants guests who speak her language

An Airbnb host from China who has 16 listings in Richmond, BC, is only receiving Chinese speaking guests. “Because my English is not good, can only receive guests who speak Chinese words,” says the host who goes by the name Aimi Aimi’s profile lists her as being from China and her profession as a “remote” […]

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City of Vancouver licences Chinese company to run multiple Airbnb flophouses

City of Vancouver has issued a local branch of a Chinese company to run at least three Airbnb flophouses in the city in clear violation of Vancouver short term rental bylaws that only permit individuals to offer listings in their primary residence. One of them is a brand new three-bedroom townhouse at 7827 Manitoba Street, […]

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Vancouver’s commercial Airbnb operators

Despite Airbnb’s narrative that the platform is only used by empty nesters renting out short term a “spare bedroom” to “make ends” meet, short term rental business in Vancouver is dominated by commercial operators. Here are commercial operators who list five or more entire homes/apartments on Airbnb for less than 30 days. All these listings […]

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