One-on-one with B.C.’s housing minister on CTV News investigation into short-term rental scam

CTV News has uncovered a scam in which a would-be tenant signs a long-term lease, only to turn around and illegally list the unit on a short-term rental site.

For weeks, CTV News has been investigating a sophisticated scam in which someone poses as a long-term tenant and signs a lease on a downtown Vancouver condo, only to turn around and illegally rent that unit out for nightly stays on short-term rental sites like Airbnb and Booking.com.

On June 2, the B.C. government enacted a law that was supposed to prevent this type of fraud. It stipulates that hosts can only list their primary residence on short-term rental sites, and they must have a valid registration number.

But in every listing CTV News has investigated, and in many more that were found through a simple search on the short-term rental platforms, downtown condos are claiming to be exempt from providing registration.

Housing Minister Christine Boyle said the province is aware of the issue.

“It’s a problem that we are working on in terms of compliance and enforcement,” Boyle said in a one-on-one interview. “These listings that are listed as exempt but shouldn’t be can face significant monetary penalties, and our compliance and enforcement unit continues to follow up and enforce them.”

In an emailed statement, Booking.com said in part: “We require our partners to provide accurate and lawful information about their properties. As part of our commitment to regulatory compliance, we have implemented mechanisms specifically designed for British Columbia to verify that in-scope accommodation partners provide legitimate registration numbers and/or valid legal exemptions.”

A statement from Airbnb says the company has not received any removal requests from the properties identified by CTV News.

“At present, the province has not provided a mechanism for verification of certain accommodation options that are exempt from the registration requirement, however both provincial and municipal authorities have tools to take action on unauthorized listings,” the statement said.

But Colbin Wong said not only was his partner’s condo not exempt from short-term rental laws, the person who listed it for nightly stays on Booking.com had signed a lease as a long-term tenant.

“It’s been an extremely stressful situation,” said Wong in an interview Tuesday.

Related: Short-term rental scam in downtown Vancouver happening on another well-known booking platform

The condo belonging to Hossein Tavakoli, the first victim of the scam who came forward to CTV News, was also listed as exempt from registration on Airbnb by a man he thought was his long-term tenant.

“I share that outrage,” said Boyle. “We will continue to strictly enforce these rules, these penalties, remove listings and make sure that that good hosts are able to continue to host and that scammers, folks not in compliance listing illegal listings, are penalized and removed from sites.”

The minister said 1,800 non-compliant short-term rental listings have been removed in the past year. But only one fraudulent host has been fined, in the amount of $34,400. CTV News has asked for details of the person behind that penalty.

Related: How a Vancouver condo owner discovered his long-term tenant listed the unit on Airbnb

Booking.com said it also “maintains a dedicated webform where this parties can provide information necessary to investigate allegedly illegal or unauthorized properties, and as the case may be, take appropriate action.”

Wong worries if there’s little chance of being fined by the province or the platform, fake tenants will continue signing long-term leases and posting unregistered listings on short-term rental sites.

“If you’re making what the listing said was about $500 a night and paying about $125 for long-term rental, you’re making $375 a day per apartment that you have,” he said.

It’s a lucrative scam that new short-term rental laws have so far been unable to stop.