Second Vancouver condo owner victimized in Airbnb scheme speaks out

A second Vancouver condo owner is speaking out about a scheme in which long-term tenants secretly list their units on Airbnb.

When Silbi Kim saw a CTV News story about a Vancouver condo owner whose long-term tenant illegally rented the unit on Air BNB, she knew she had to reach out.

“This is exactly what happened to me,” said Kim. “It almost proves my theory, that this is not just one case, but it’s like organized criminal activity.”

Kim had no issues with the long-term tenant in the downtown Vancouver condo she owns, until her strata reached out in June.

“I got email from the strata saying that my unit has been used for short term rentals, which I have had no idea,” said Kim.

“I was shocked, and asked them for evidence. Then they came upstairs and knocked on the door and found a couple visiting from Airbnb.”

Kim called Airbnb, and customer service asked her for a link to the fraudulent listing. She didn’t have it, but she knew who would: the couple staying in her condo.

“So, then I came here to ask the guests about the link. And they provided the link and who the host was, which wasn’t my tenant,” said Kim.

She gave that information to Airbnb along with proof she owned the unit and did not authorize the listing. But Kim says the short-term rental company would not deactivate it, telling her to take it up with the host.

“How am I supposed to talk to the host? I don’t even know them,” said Kim.

So, she decided to confront her tenant about what was happening.

“And the tenant straight up lied to me first. But then he bailed. He just disappeared,” said Kim.

For a month, she had no way to stop Airbnb guests who booked the condo from showing up.

“I came to this unit every single night to check if anybody checked in. I had to the kick one young family out. I felt so bad about it, but I explained them about the situation and told them to call Airbnb and ask them to find another unit, because this is illegal,” said Kim.

She said Airbnb was no help in resolving the problem.

“It was so frustrating because I talked to so many different people on Airbnb, from the customer service representative to a senior case manager to a specialist team, and at the end they go, oh, we’re just a platform. We cannot do anything about it,” Kim said.

She’d like the city of Vancouver and the province, who both have strict short-term rental laws on the books, to investigate how fake tenants are getting away with listing long-term rental units on Airbnb.

“If they can do multiple cases and can disappear, that’s something wrong,” she said.

In a statement, Airbnb told CTV News the company “takes these matters seriously.”

“We can confirm that the listings in question were removed and we are continuing to investigate,” it said.

The company also said future reservations under the accounts were cancelled, and that support helped affected guests with rebooking.

CTV News reached out to the City of Vancouver and the province’s housing minister asking for comment, but neither level of government would do an on-camera interview.

They both emailed statements outlining current short-term rental laws, and encouraged condo owners who fall victim to the scheme to report it.

The city also encouraged potential Airbnb guests to look for a municipal and provincial license in a listing. If it says “exempt” it’s a red flag, because only hotels properties that are zoned as bed and breakfast are exempt from providing a licence.

Kim wants the government to do more to get to the bottom of what’s happening.

“This is not by a person who is making money. It’s more organized,” she said. “They know what’s going on. They know how to hide. They know how to use the laws, because they probably know that they are not going to get dinged. They are not going to get the penalty. It’s the owner who will get the penalty if it’s illegal.”

With her so-called tenant nowhere to be found, Kim took back possession of her condo and changed the locks. She’s now preparing to put it back on the rental market. But she’s leery of choosing a new tenant.

“I really don’t know how I can be protected from the same case scenario,” Kim said. “It makes me nervous.”