Press review of August

This month's press review sheds light on the problem of apartments illegally posted by tenants on short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb, as well as the shortage of both private and public housing in Quebec.

By Corinne Laberge

 

Airbnb: more problems

Le Soleil devoted the article "Des logements en Airbnb... à l'insu des proprios" to this scourge faced by several owners and property managers in the rental sector, who say they are ‘victims’ of the phenomenon.

"With properties in neighborhoods such as Old Quebec, Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Saint-Roch and Montcalm, the president of Société immobilière Bélanger admits to owning ‘a lot of downtown apartments that lend themselves perfectly to this type of rental’. He says he has been surprising people with them for at least five years," we emphasize. François Bélanger has instituted "a routine to prevent tourist rentals from invading his buildings", scanning listings on Airbnb every month. "It's a little detective work, and when we see one, we have to find the exact unit and keep screenshots of the advertiser's profile to cross-reference with the tenant," he explains.

Article 1870 of the Civil Code of Quebec is quoted in this regard: "A lessee may sublease all or part of the leased property or assign the lease. In either case, he is bound to give the lessor notice of his intention and the name and address of the intended sublessee or assignee and to obtain the lessor’s consent to the sublease or assignment".

However, if the tenant doesn't cooperate, "it becomes really difficult to get rid of them," observes Mr. Bélanger. "The burden falls on the landlords, whereas in this Wild West, it should fall on the platforms to protect everyone," he pleads.

CORPIQ's June survey of some 900 members is discussed. The proportion of owners "saying they have experienced at least one similar case in one or more of their dwellings" stands at 10%. "Of these, two-thirds said they did not provide authorization for this type of subletting. Only 1% of landlords revealed that they would give their consent for a tenant to rent one of their apartments on Airbnb", says the report.

"It's a hidden phenomenon. Chances are they don't realize it," CORPIQ points out, urging the authorities to "put in place sufficient means to nail the ‘delinquents’ of tourist accommodation, whether they are landlords or tenants." Otherwise, it ‘fears that the rules that allow subletting of leases will be circumvented in favor of a new form of 'short-term subletting’ ".          

Entitled "En dépit de la loi, les licences bidons toujours nombreuses sur Airbnb, au Québec" ("Despite the law, bogus licenses still abound on Airbnb, in Quebec"), this Radio-Canada piece takes a look at the issue. "Quebec had promised in June to tighten the screws on rental platforms like Airbnb, but the number of listings on this website is on the rise, and some hosts are getting more and more creative with their ways of getting around the law. Meanwhile, Airbnb and Quebec are tossing the ball back and forth over who is really responsible for verifying the authenticity of ads and hosts," summarizes the introduction. 

We remind you that since 2020, "owners must register with the Corporation de l'industrie touristique du Québec (CITQ) if they want to rent out their accommodation for a short period (less than 31 days)". Since this requirement has hardly been respected, "a new law passed in June will enable the government to impose fines of up to $100,000 per illegal ad on platforms like Airbnb. The latter must themselves ensure that landlords comply with Quebec laws".

However, Airbnb says it is unable "to verify whether the registration certificate issued in PDF format by the government and submitted by the host has been tampered with or altered". And the same applies to host authentication. "(...) Airbnb specifies that the process of verifying a host's identity is not a guarantee against the use of a false identity. (...) a verified identity simply means that the host has filled in all the mandatory fields at the time of registration", we read.

Airbnb requests that Quebec provides it with "a database of valid registration numbers on a regular basis, or access to this data via an API (application programming interface)". The Ministry of Tourism responds that Airbnb "can ensure the authenticity of the document, since a digital seal will be applied to the PDF document by the government's public key infrastructure (PKI)". In any case, "an electronic verification system using an API, as well as a verification portal, will be set up shortly", says the ministry.

Finally, Radio-Canada announced on August 2 that the City of Montreal is launching "a squad to counter illegal short-term tourist accommodation establishments". As part of this pilot project, "the municipal squad, made up of a coordinator and three inspectors, will be authorized to carry out unannounced inspections and hand out fines ranging from $1,000 to $4,000". In addition, reports may be made to Revenu Québec, resulting in much larger fines.

"The squad will operate in three central boroughs that together account for more than 60% of online ads in Montreal: Plateau-Mont-Royal, Ville-Marie and the South-West," we report. More than 5,000 ads are linked to these areas. The squad's planning consultant, Marie-Claude Parent, says she is "convinced that the deployment of her team will enable units to return to the Montreal rental market".

A major housing shortage in Quebec, both private and public 

This Radio-Canada article reports that "The rental housing shortage in Quebec is recurring and getting worse every year, plunging more than a hundred destitute households into a literal nightmare".

While there were 130 households without a lease in Montreal on the eve of August 1, the text points out, the housing shortage is not sparing the rest of the province. "According to the Société d'habitation du Québec, there were 281 households in temporary accommodations as of July 31," it states.

In June, a report by the Institut de recherche et d'informations socioéconomiques (IRIS) pointed out that "the construction of new housing is insufficient to remedy the crisis that is now affecting two out of three cities in Quebec". ‘’Deficient regulations and a lack of housing outside the private market are the real causes of the crisis". IRIS adds, by way of comparison, that "around 10% of the rental housing stock in Quebec is made up of social and community housing, whereas this proportion reaches almost 50% in some cities like Vienna".

The scarcity of affordable rents is then the subject of this Journal de Montréal article: "Trouver un logement pour quelques centaines de dollars relève du miracle pour ces personnes recevant de l’aide sociale" (Finding housing for a few hundred dollars is a miracle for people on social assistance). The basic monthly benefit is $770, and over "100,300 Quebecers receive it, with a few adjustments depending on the situation, says the Ministère de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale".

Thus, "Following the recommendation of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) not to allocate more than 35% of one's income to housing in order to live decently, finding a roof over one's head is an impossible task. For a welfare recipient on minimum income, this means finding a place to live at just $269.50 a month.

The case of 64-year-old Jean Seredocka is cited. The man "has no choice but to increase his housing budget to $450, even though it represents more than 58% of his income".

Serge Petitclerc, spokesman for the Collectif pour un Québec sans pauvreté, deplores the lack of funding for social housing construction. A view shared by CORPIQ's Director of Public Affairs. "But tenants also need to receive more direct financial assistance to offset the cost of rents, and to speed up construction to increase supply," says Marc-André Plante.