Dealing with Short-Term Rentals in Toronto: Here’s What You Can Do
Living in Toronto, you may have noticed the rise of short-term rentals, like Airbnb, in your neighbourhood. While using these types of platforms can provide additional income for homeowners and attract tourists to the city, they often can cause challenges for residents in the neighbourhood. If you’re feeling frustrated dealing with the short-term rental next door, here’s what you can do.
Understand what a short-term rental is
According to the City of Toronto, a short-term rental is “all or part of a dwelling unit rented out for less than 28 consecutive days in exchange for payment.” It includes “bed and breakfasts but excludes hotels, motels, student residents owned or operated by publicly funded or non-profit education institutions.”
In Toronto, short-term rentals must be registered and are only allowed in a person’s principal residence. This would be the address they use for bills, identification, taxes and insurance. Read more about what you should know about short-term rentals here.
Document, document, document
If you’re experiencing disruptions from a nearby short-term rental, keep a detailed record of any incident that takes place. This includes dates, times and descriptions of what happened. This documentation will be important if you ever have to report the issue to the city or take further action.
Communicate with the host
Sometimes, the simplest solution is to communicate directly with the host of the rental. If the host is using Airbnb or other online platforms, and the property is still listed online, reach out to them via the app or site to express your concerns. Airbnb’s website has a Neighbourhood Support page where you can submit your complaint online if one of their listings is causing a community disturbance. This can be from excessive noise, a disruptive gathering, or unsafe behaviour.
According to the Airbnb website, once an issue is reported to them, they’ll send a follow up email with next steps.
Report the issue to the City
If you’ve reached out to the host, submitted a complaint to the short-term rental platform and the problem still persists, then it’s time to make a complaint to the city. The City of Toronto suggests that you “call 311 or submit a complaint online to report any issues related to short-term rentals. This includes noise, waste or concerns that people are renting homes that are not their principal residence.” Any documentation you kept earlier will really help during this step.
Explore legal options
If worse comes to worst, it may be worth exploring legal options. Consult with a lawyer to understand your rights and any potential actions you can take.
Finally, if you are the owner of a short-term rental, try to be respectful of your neighbours as they’re the ones dealing with the regular comings and goings of renters. And know that a relatively new tax ruling on short-term rentals means that you may have to pay HST on that property should you decide to sell it.
November 12, 2024
