Are Quebec hosts skirting the new rules on Airbnb? – Montreal | 24CA News
Just two days after Airbnb stated it pulled unauthorized Quebec listings from its platform, it appears some hosts are already skirting the principles.
A search on Airbnb’s web site revealed some hosts could also be falsifying their six-digit CITQ quantity, which proves their lodging is allowed with Quebec’s tourism ministry.
Global News discovered some listings with a 123456 license quantity. In one other occasion, two separate listings with completely different hosts shared the identical registration quantity.
“We’ve seen that the same registration number is used many times — whether it’s a completely bogus registration number or it’s a number that doesn’t belong to the user,” stated Cédric Dussault, spokesperson for the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ), a Montreal tenants’ rights’ group.
“Sometimes we also see some users that have a valid registration number for one location, but are using it for various locations.”
Until not too long ago, the housing market didn’t require customers in Quebec so as to add their registration quantity to an inventory, leading to many unlawful Airbnbs.
Last week Quebec Tourism Minister Caroline Proulx met with Airbnb officers in response to renewed calls to clamp down on unlawful vacationer lodging — after a lethal hearth in Old Montreal killed seven individuals, lots of whom had been vacationers who rented models off the platform.
Days after the assembly, the housing market introduced they’d pull listings that didn’t have a registration quantity.
“What Airbnb is doing in fact, it’s not real intention to respect the regulation. It’s really basically a PR operation,” stated Dussault.
In an announcement to Global News, Airbnb stated, “the province issues the CITQ number directly to hosts, not Airbnb. As such, it’s the province’s responsibility to enforce their legislation.”
At the National Assembly Thursday, events of all stripes agreed that the federal government must do extra.
“The government of Quebec need to verify these license numbers and making sure if people don’t have the right to offer such services,” stated Marc Tanguay, interim Quebec Liberal chief. “And to impose and amend as well.”
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Parti Québécois MNA Joël Arseneau agreed and added that the “easy part” was assembly with Airbnb officers, however the laborious half is reinforcing the legislation.
“You need to have the resources to make sure that people respect the law,” he stated.
Quebec’s tourism minister stated she is planning to introduce a invoice to crack down on unlawful brief time period leases. Her spokesperson informed Global News that faux registration numbers are an issue that shall be addressed within the new laws.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
