Sault Ste. Marie is promising to get tough with unlicensed Airbnbs and Vrbo operators in the new year.
The city passed a bylaw regulating these short-term rentals about a year ago, but only a handful of the some 100 hosts in the Sault have gotten the licence.
Last week, city council voted to increase the licence fee from $50 to $500 dollars and require the licence number be included in the listing, while hearing from city staff about plans to crackdown on unlicensed hosts.
Sault Ste. Marie city councillor Stephan Kinach feels staff could “make it easier” to get a licence.
Christopher Walls and his wife Sansaray have listed a house in the east end of Sault Ste. Marie on Airbnb for the past year, bringing in about $2,000 per month.
He says he agrees that short-term rentals should be licensed and properly insured, but has “mixed feelings with how it’s been approached.”
Walls says he tried to get a licence, went through most of the steps in the city’s process, but can’t find an insurance company that will give him a policy that meets the city’s requirement of listing the municipality as an “additional insured.”
Walls says it’s a “realistic possibility” that they will have to take down their listing in the coming months, but is hoping a solution can be found.