I’m sounding like a cracked record on this but the first signs of summer – exhausted travellers buzzing at the door demanding keys to their holiday rental – have set alarm bells ringing in a friend’s building.
Sure enough, checking the Airbnb website, we found a two-bedroom unit for over $360 a night, minimum two nights – despite a by-law in the upmarket, iconic block that says residents can’t let apartments for less than three months at a time.
The listing also ignores a ‘permanent residential only’ council zoning so, on two counts, it’s in breach of Airbnb’s own rule that you must be allowed to let your property.
So how do you inform Airbnb that your building is off limits and someone is ignoring the law – and Airbnb rules – in order to make a killing on a unit that should be available on the residential rental market?
After digging around their website in vain for a contact address or phone number, then hassling the wrong people, I was given the email address response@airbnb.com and assured messages to it would be seen at head office.
Drop them a line if your building is affected. I’ll keep you posted on my cage rattling efforts on the Forum.