Category Archives: renting

advice, BC, renting

Pro-tip: Don’t rent your ‘vacation home’ to a 14 year old

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It’s kind of fabulous how easy it is these to days to rent out your spare homes as a vacation home with an online listing. And it’s easy to find a vacation home for a short term stay as well, all you need is a credit card… or your parents credit card.

Police say they were called around 8:30 Friday night to a home on Ottawa Avenue near 24th Street and saw 200 teens flooding out of the house.

Palmer says damage is now estimated at approximately $20,000.

“Walls were kicked in, furniture was smashed, artwork was smashed, furniture was tossed off the balcony into a hot tub,” he says.

The family has agreed to pay for the damage and no criminal charges will be pursued by the owner of the rental home.

Full article here.

BC, economy, politics, renting

Class action against Airbnb?

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Dude Chillin pointed out this article about a Vancouver strata lawyer preparing a class action suit against Airbnb:

A Vancouver strata lawyer says she is preparing a class action lawsuit against Airbnb, alleging the company is “profiting from the unauthorized use of other people’s property.”

Recently, Polina Furtula — who is on the strata council of her Yaletown condo tower — sent demand letters to Airbnb about unauthorized listings in her building. Airbnb notified the hosts of the complaints and shortly afterwards, the hosts decided to remove their listings.

Read the full article here.

BC, economy, Open Topic, renting, supply

Couple denied home for having a daughter

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What?

There’s likely more to this story than simple discrimination, but a Vancouver couple is claiming they were denied a housing coop home because their second child was a girl.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) guideline suggests children of opposite sexes can’t share a bedroom if they are over the age of five, but it’s OK for children of the same sex to do so.

Gottfried and Hurtig believe it should be up to parents to decide when and if children share a room.

“I would describe it as being completely outrageous and appalling and just unbelievable,” Gottfried tells Go Public.

“No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t really wrap my brain around it,” Hurtig says.

The one-income family says money is tight. Getting the unit would have meant their rent would drop from $1,840 to $895 a month.

“It’s discrimination. We get the room if our children are the same sex and we don’t get the room if our children are not the same sex. It’s very, very clear-cut discrimination,” Gottfried said.

Read the full article over at the CBC.