Injury Law Group Blog

Condo Rules & AirBnB

Condominium and Housing Law

Thinking about renting your condominium with AirBnB to make some extra money? Do your research! If you are not familiar with AirBnB, it is a website where you can rent your property for temporary short stay accommodations, or rent one for yourself for your next trip. 

For Condo Owners:

This may become an issue with condominium owners, since corporations do not necessarily want their units being used like a hotel.  Corporations are creating regulations to prevent these types of rental situations and may even pursue it in court. 

Some corporations are open to the idea of these rentals.  However, if you are a unit owner wanting to rent out your unit for short-term accommodations such as AirBnB, you need to do your research and be aware of certain rules.  For example, offering your unit to the public for an accommodation may redefine it as a public place in terms of health legislation.  This means that you have to maintain your unit in line with minimum housing, health, and safety standards or else you may face expensive fines.  You also need to make sure you have enough insurance to cover any potential damages to your unit, other units, or any common elements.  In terms of zoning, this could prohibit you from renting your unit short-term or require you to obtain a business licence and permits in order to do so. Make sure you check the Declaration, legislation, and By-laws of the condominium, ensure guests are following the rules, and seek legal consultation before renting your condo on websites such as AirBnB.  

For Condo Corporations:

It’s a bit of a tricky situation for corporations, since Condominium Acts may not have sections addressing short stay AirBnB-style rentals, and due to the fact that the rentals are short stay, it may be difficult to act on an issue before the guests check out.  Some condominium boards are using the Declaration dealing with single-family dwelling requirements and commercial activity prohibitions to remedy these situations. 

If you are a condominium board member dealing with this issue, and you don’t have the Declaration mentioned above in place, there may be provisions to enable the corporation to charge unit owners for damages caused to the common areas or other units by the guests. 

Consider seeking out legal advice from a trusted condominium lawyer to go through your Declaration and By-laws and to prevent any potential problems arising from short-term rentals.

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