A Toronto woman has launched a lawsuit seeking more than 1.5 million dollars from Airbnb, the City of Toronto, and two former tenants after the condominium she owns was allegedly rented out on the short-term rental platform dozens of times without her knowledge.
A civil lawsuit filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on behalf of Toronto resident Allison Rasquinha is seeking a collective $1.6 million from the defendants, claiming that in February 2023, Rasquinha became aware her Adelaide Street West condominium had been rented out as an unauthorized short-term rental property more than 30 times in the past year.
“It went on for quite some time without my knowledge,” Rasquinha told The Vassy Kapelos Show Tuesday. “It was just such a terrible feeling, like a big breach of trust.”
The lawsuit accuses Airbnb and the city of neglecting to verify whether the tenants were authorized to rent out the property on a short-term basis.
The allegations haven't been proven in court and, at the time of publication, none of the defendants had filed a statement of defence.
When reached for comment, Airbnb confirmed the listing had been removed and that the host is no longer able to offer rentals on the platform, and the City of Toronto said it could not provide a statement on matters while they remained before the courts. CTV News Toronto was not able to contact the two former tenants of the unit by publication.
Marielle Dahab, Rasquinha's lawyer, says all four defendants were "unjustly enriched" by the alleged repeated rentals, and that the case shines a light on the need for stricter municipal vetting of Airbnb operators in the city.
"[The city] cannot put the burden on the users to confirm authority because that is not how to deal with misrepresentation," she said in an interview Tuesday.
RENTED OUT MORE THAN 30 TIMES: LAWSUIT
On July 1, 2022, Rasquinha entered a one-year lease agreement with two tenants, according to the statement of claim filed on her behalf.
That agreement reportedly prohibited the tenants from subleasing the property, the claim states. However, two weeks after the lease took effect, Rasquinha alleges the city issued her tenants a short-term rental registration.
Between July 2022 and April 2023, Rasquinha alleges her unit was rented out more than 30 times on Airbnb without her knowledge. She became aware of the situation in February, the claim reads.
“I only found out after our security guards had noted an incident report that somebody came in with luggage and was looking for an Airbnb suite,” Rasquinha told The Vassy Kapelos Show. “So I just thought I’ll hop on Airbnb and check – and lo and behold, there was my condo.”
Rasquinha alleges that Airbnb was slow to remove the listing, allowing it to remain on the platform for weeks after she notified the company in mid-March.
On March 21, she alerted city officials to the situation, and on April 2, the city rescinded the tenant’s short-term rental registration, the claim reads.
About two weeks later, on April 16, Airbnb removed the listing from its platform, the company confirmed to CTV News Toronto.
Dahab says during this time, all parties, except for Rasquinhas, were profiting. With every rental, Airbnb collects service fees from both guests and hosts. With each registration, the city collects a $53 fee.
"Essentially, the overarching claim is that all defendants were unjustly enriched," Dahab said.
CURRENT POLICIES INADEQUATE: LAWYER
Dahab said the city needs to do more to vet potential Airbnb hosts before issuing them a registration.
“Airbnb as well as the city need to make sure the owners are authorized to rent units,” the lawyer said, adding that a failure to do so puts tenants at risk as well.
Within its statement, the city said it prohibits Airbnb operators from hosting any property that is not their principal residence – the address at which they live and receive mail to. It also requires applicants to provide valid government-issued identification that matches their principal residence.
However, those who rent or own condominiums are subject to any applicable bylaws imposed by the condo corporation, it said. Sometimes, these prohibit short-term rentals, and in such cases, the city says it is not responsible for enforcement.
This sharing of responsibility not only puts landlords at risk but tenants as well, Dahab said.
“If a legal owner arrives at a property and says, ‘Who are you? I didn’t authorize you to be here,’ it can put the tenants at risk as well,” she said.
For Rasquinha, the matter is more personal and she says the situation has brought up issues with trust.
"It just makes you want to withdraw essentially and take some steps back and say why was I so giving with my precious home," she said.
If residents have complaints about Airbnb operators in Toronto, they can contact 311 and the city says a bylaw officer will be assigned to investigate.
