Regulating AirBnB in Vancouver and others

CBC
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/airbnb-canada-agrees-on-need-for-new-regulations-and-data-sharing-1.3516407

and more
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-needs-new-bylaws-for-airbnb-crackdown-says-councillor-1.3514217

The gist ....

The City of Vancouver needs new bylaws to crack down on Airbnb listings and protect its stock of long-term rentals, says one city councillor.

Coun. Geoff Meggs says while most Airbnb listings in the city are actually illegal, existing bylaws are not effective enough to enforce a crackdown and protect the city's stock of long-term rentals.

You are not allowed to rent your home for less than 30 days unless you have a bed and breakfast business licence."

"The problem is that we have a complete mismatch between the regulatory regime and the new technology, " said Meggs.

The existing bylaw, he explains, is problematic because it is complaint-driven and requires bylaw officers to gather much more evidence than a simple online listing.As a result, many who list on online vacation rental websites are just ignoring the rules, he says.

Ultimately Meggs wants to see a new law drafted to regulate short term rentals, including those from other popular websites like VRBO, Tripping and Roomorama. Specifically, he'd like to mandate licenses for these types of rentals.

"If I go into restaurants I have an expectation that they are following the rules...and they have to show a licence to show that that is the case. And when people go into business to rent, they have to understand that there are going to be certain obligations."

Santa Monica California has regulated AirBnB ... from NPR....
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/05/13/406587575/santa-monica-cracks-down-on-airbnb-bans-vacation-rentals-under-a-month May 13, 20159:38 PM ET

Santa Monica, Calif., is cracking down on Airbnb and the rest of the short-term rental industry. Tuesday night, the Santa Monica City Council adopted its home-sharing ordinance, which bans the rental of an entire unit for less than 30 days and requires those who take part in allowable home-sharing to obtain a business license from the city and pay a 14% hotel tax. The law takes effect June 15. The city says proceeds from the hotel tax will help pay for enforcement officers and an analyst to find illegal rentals online.

.....

Santa Monica isn't the only city to push back against Airbnb and others in the short-term rental industry. We previously reported that New York's attorney general found that almost three-quarters of New York City bookings break the law, and that the state is owed $33 million in hotel taxes. An increasing number of cities across the country are starting to institute hotel taxes on Airbnb rentals. The pushback has even gone international, with Spain fining Airbnb $40,000 and threatening to block its website.

In California at least, Santa Monica's latest regulations are harsher than others. San Francisco, for instance, has allowed residential rentals of less than 30 days, with some "caveats," as the San Francisco Chronicle reports.