Canada’s first dedicated squad of short-term rental inspectors — also known as Montreal’s new Airbnb police. In partnership with The Real News Network, Ricochet Media had the chance to join them as they hunted down illegal rentals with our camera crew in tow.

With fines that can reach $100,000 for repeat offenders, the highest yet in North America, Montreal is cracking down on illegal ghost hotels. The flurry of enforcement comes in the wake of a tragic March fire that killed seven, including six Airbnb guests in a building with inadequate windows, fire escapes, and smoke alarms.

“Our message to everybody who is doing illegal [short-term rentals],” Plateau-Mont-Royal mayor Luc Rabouin says when we meet him in a local park, “we are coming.”

This reporting is part of the Investigating Airbnb project, a crowdfunded, multi-outlet effort to track the impact of short-term rentals on the housing crisis in Canada.

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22 thoughts on “Hunting down illegal Airbnbs with the first enforcement squad in North America”
  1. Ahhh yes 😂 more state enFORCEMENT against voluntary exchange of services 😂 gotta love the " power" of state agents

  2. I’m not sure of how the laws are regarding tenant-landlord relations, but, the way things are in California, I’m not surprised when property owners decide not to rent to others. Some prefer having an empty house instead of having a hard time trying to kick out a bad tenant, since the law allows tenants to drag the process as much as possible and when they leave they leave owing months of rent. So…for these landlords, short term rentals might be less risk. 🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️

  3. Wow🎉
    But how do regular people in my tiny California wine country town, now overridden with obnoxious wealthy tourists, and who actually passed a ban on more hotels, fight the city council that failed to follow the new law, clearly on purpose to increase bed-taxes instead of housing regular people?????

  4. I'm sure there's a lot of violations that you have to look at not just about people being able not do it what they want to do, is it safe is it up to cold how clean is it, I have a problem just staying in regular hotels they are nasty they don't change the semen sheets..

  5. The inspector in this video is clearly acting unethical. He avoids owners, uses cleaners to do his dirty work and gain entry, then either uses threat of contacting their employer if they don't, or concludes they have something to hide warranting further investigation. While I don't necessarily think that AirBnB should not have some clear regulations, this type of abuse isn't the way to resolve it. This is another administrative abuse. You heard the administrative branch state clearly that they are going to go after anybody they disagree with, and they do so through the misuse of investigations and abuse of citizens and property owners in their own cities. Meanwhile, these same governments abuse citizens in collusion with banks, to destroy home ownership through malicious wars funded with inflation and criminal interest rates. They are the ones responsible for what has taken place over the past 3 years, and are accountable to nobody. This is what sociopaths and incompetent administrators do. They abuse their powers at the expense of all others, and don't give a care in the world about the fallout of the abuse that they perpetrate.

  6. There is no housing and here is a new incentive to bring up unused space, but government is not going to have it! Solutions? Only the government can have them, though they obviously don't work.. What if private sector work? Can't do😢

  7. The problem is when people make bad landlords. Or I should say motel owners. I don't hear half as he's worth just that they have to work. Yeah, you keep on saying illegal motels. What do you mean by that?
    Renter's that are renting rooms. If they are renting rooms OK if they are present, then it is at B&B if they are not present, then it is a time share. Or an airbnb. The only thing it seems is necessary is deteriorated to determine which one of the 3 they are using the rumors. Rights and responsibilities are set up for each. My theory is simply follow appropriate procedure for each. Informing owners or richest that are getting it wrong. Anacortes when they can prove that they are simply allowing family to stay over. A little leeway is entitled.

  8. Honestly, I have no problem with an airbnb. And as long as you are having somebody stay over. The question isn't even weather. That's renting rooms or having families stay over for a week at a time, So be it.

  9. Screw the government telling individuals what they can do with their properties while subsidizing corporations so only the rich can do business and get ahead. Screw them.

  10. Nice housing crisis, finally someone saying it right. There is no shortage of empty homes there are enough empty homes you could give every homeless person including children 27.5 homes each… that's how many empty homes are in America its not a housing crisis its a greed crisis

  11. Government officials weren’t “asleep at the wheel,” they’re the ones who own these “ghost hotels”

  12. Wish they would go after incompetent and criminal legislatures, government officials and financial institutions this way.

  13. Instead of government passing effective legislation, they now count on people to become snitches, much like in Nazi Germany.

    Neighbors turning on neighbors, who then become local scapegoats.

    Small time offenders, who need the income (because we live in a Capitalist zoo), are fearful of being caught, become distant from their neighbors, being forced to lie and deceive, and fear being excessively fined and/or jailed.

    Our governments have become so lame they force people into doing THEIR job, 
    which is to pass EFFECTIVE LEGISLATION.  
    They KNOW the problems – but instead they make these feeble attempts because in “secret” they want the money.

  14. The ppl who keep telling us "housing market isnt going to crash ever" same ppl who believe the stock market will never crash lol

  15. They should be able to rent it short-term if they want. I guess its just another case of the government shoving itself between the citizens and their happiness and/or wealth.

  16. Hawaii is watching you with great interest! This is awesome. Sadly, when Hawaii tried to end foreign ownership a few years ago the way canada has recently, the canadian lobby poured money in to say it was racist (given that so much of maui is completely canadian owned). Neat to find out that canadian is a race Btw

  17. Whenever anyone wants to compete with a Rothchilds monopoly, you better have everything in order because the control the inspector

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