The City of Kelowna is hiring a company to help crack down on the hundreds of short-term rentals it believes are operating illegally in the city.
According to the city, five months after a short-term rental licence became officially required, more than 800 people still don’t have one.
The city said finding those unlicensed operators is labour-intensive, so it’s hiring a company to do the work for around $100,000 a year.
However, the city said the taxpayers won’t have to foot that bill.
Instead, Kelowna expects to cover the cost through licensing fees.
Licensing prices for short-term rental operators vary, but typically run between $350 and $750 a year, more than triple the cost of Vancouver’s.
For licensed short-term rental host Cherie Hansen, who paid less than $30 for a business licence for years, it’s too much.
“For those of us who are seniors, and the largest percentage of Airbnb operators in Kelowna are seniors, who are open about 60 days a year, raising the business licence that much really hurts us,” Hansen said.
The city said that in the fall, it sent out hundreds of warning letters to unlicensed short-term rental operators and is now seeing “positive results.”
“People are recognizing that they’ve been caught and they’re coming in and seeing what they have to do to licence up for 2020,” said Kelowna’s business licence manager Greg Wise.
The city said it hasn’t issued any fines yet, but they are coming and will cost operators $500 a day.
If someone has several fines, the city plans to pursue court action.
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