On September 10, the City of Toronto (the ”City”) launched a new online registration system for short-term rental operators. The long-awaited licensing and registration regime for short-term rentals has many condo corporations eager to see whether this will bring some much-needed relief to their struggles.
A short-term rental operator is someone who rents their home or room(s) for a period of less than 28 consecutive days. All short-term rental operators are now required to register with the City. Any existing short-term rental operators must register by December 31, 2020 to continue their short-term rental practices.
Registrants must be at least 18 years or older and can only rent their principal residence. A principal residence is one’s home where that person ordinarily resides, which should be the address for bills, identification, taxes, etc. The principal residence requirement means there should be no more ghost hotels or investor owned units operating at short-rental units.
Both owners and tenants can register their principal residence for short term rentals – of course, this is subject to the provisions in a Corporation’s declaration and rules which may prohibit tenants from engaging in short term rentals.
Any short term rental operators who do not register are subject to fines of up to $100,000.
Many condo corporations explicitly prohibit short-term rentals in their governing documents. Condo corporations which permit short-term rentals may have provisions in place surrounding short-term rentals that residents must comply with. For instance, many corporations have rules requiring registration of short-term renters with the Corporation prior to the stay and check-in requirements. Before renting units or rooms for short-term rentals, owners and tenants should first consult their condo corporation’s governing documents to see if the practice is permitted, and if so, what rules and procedures are in place.
For more information on the new registration system, click here.
