She unlisted her condo on Airbnb when Quebec changed its law. She still got fined $3,750

Up until three years ago, Montrealer Ashley Werhun was occasionally renting out the condo she shares with her fiancé on Airbnb when they were out of town.

In 2019, the Quebec government toughened the rules for short-term rentals, and Werhun decided at that point to stop renting her property. She hasn't rented it since.

But in 2021, after a Father's Day weekend visit from her father-in-law, Revenu Québec fined Werhun $3,750 for having a listing for an unregistered Airbnb.

She received notice of the fine a few months later in the mail. The letter from Revenu Québec said it appeared that she'd had a visitor on the Father's Day weekend, and that inspectors had subsequently discovered her Airbnb listing online.

The letter also included photographs inspectors had taken of her residence without her knowledge a few weeks after her father-in-law's visit.  

Werhun isn't clear on how Revenu Québec was made aware of her father-in-law's visit (she believes it's possible an unwitting neighbour may have made a complaint), but it was that visit that prompted Revenu Québec to follow up.

Even though her father wasn't a paying guest, and she explained that to Revenu Québec, she was still fined. 

"It doesn't matter if you actually rented it, it doesn't matter if you made zero dollars," Werhun told CBC in an interview at the Montreal courthouse Monday.

Her story highlights the frustration of many Airbnb hosts who feel they've been unfairly targeted since Quebec toughened the rules.

Fines start at $3,750

The rule change that has prompted such consternation came in 2019.  

That's when Quebecers who rented out their homes on a short-term basis (under 31 days) were required to obtain a registration number through the province for a cost of $50.

That number has to be included on any advertising, contract or website connected to the rental unit. 

The province was slow to start enforcing the law but started to ramp up enforcement in 2021 after hiring more inspectors. Revenu Québec also stopped giving warnings, instead proceeding straight to fines.

The fine for an individual who fails to correctly post their registration number is $3,750 including administrative fees. If two people are listed as property owners, each individual is fined that amount.

The change has been lucrative for Revenu Québec, with just under $3 million in fines assessed in the first 10 months of this year alone.

Hosts with old listings still face fines

Where Werhun may have gone wrong was in how she changed the status of her Airbnb listing when she stopped renting.

She says she "unlisted" her online ad, meaning it was removed from search results by Airbnb. No one could reserve it until she reactivated the listing. She said she blocked off dates for two years.

But Revenu Québec inspectors were still able to find traces of her listing online, and if a listing appears without a registration number included, a fine is automatically assessed. It doesn't matter if you're not actually renting.

Airbnb has several options for the status of its listings, from snoozing to unlisting to deactivating to deleting an account. In July, after receiving the fine, Werhun permanently deactivated her account.

Airbnb refused to comment on Werhun's case because of privacy policies. A spokesperson told CBC in an email that Airbnb actively encourages hosts to be in compliance with existing regulations.

Werhun said Revenu Québec is clearly punishing people who never intended to break the law, and never realized they were breaking the law.

"A lot of citizens are being fined for having old listings. So even if a listing was in 2005 or 2010, if they didn't fully confirm and delete all the data on the account, that still lives somewhere on the internet, unbeknownst to them," Werhun said.

"If a citizen has a listing from 10 years ago that they weren't even aware of, and they clearly have shown that they weren't trying to evade the law, then that's not the person you should be looking for your revenue from," she said.

Ombudsman says government message 'confusing'

Werhun isn't alone in her frustration.  A Facebook group dedicated exclusively to complaints about Revenu Québec fines for short-term rentals has more than 300 members.

And in May, the office of Quebec's ombudsman wrote a memorandum after receiving several complaints about fines that were perceived to be unfair.

The ombudsman found that the province should have done a better job explaining its new rules.

"The ombudsman has identified several discrepancies between the rules in effect and the information available, discrepancies that could confuse citizens," the report said.

The ombudsman gave the example of an online guide — and Quebec government ads that ran from 2013 to 2018 — that indicated that having a certificate for an Airbnb listing was mandatory.

Then a new online guide and a press release from the tourism minister's office was issued in 2018 and suggested that the certificate was optional if you were listing your primary residence.

The rules changed in 2019, but the ministry did not update its online guide until 2021, so some people who consulted the guide in good faith could have been led to believe that a certificate was optional — which was not the case.

The ombudsman also found that when people used online search engines to try to verify the rules, they were often shunted toward the 2018 ministerial news release, which also was no longer accurate.

And the ombudsman noted that as late as July 2021, Airbnb on its website was still saying the certificate was optional.

"In light of the problems identified, the Quebec ombudsman wishes to underline the importance that required guides be made available quickly on the government website, and that the ministry ensures that all obsolete information is removed," the memorandum recommended.

A spokesperson for Quebec's Tourism Ministry, Jean-Manuel Téotonio, told CBC in an email the obsolete news release and erroneous information in the online guide have been removed.

Téotonio said the ministry's communication strategy when the law was changed included news releases, social media postings and notes on government websites.  

"Key industry partners and ministry staff, who are in close contact with stakeholders in the tourist accommodation sector, also acted as relays," Téotonio said.

But the ombudsman's report suggested this is probably not enough.

"This information will be directed to those who already follow these organizations on social networks, which is not necessarily the case for citizens who are thinking of offering their residence for rent," the report said.

Why not a warning?

Werhun said given of this confusion and lack of clarity about the rules, Revenu Québec should still be giving out warnings instead of instantly fining people.

"I think a warning would be great for them to say: 'Hey, looks like you have an unlisted property. Do you have any intentions? There's a new law,'" Werhun said.

She noted in her case, instead of a warning, a few weeks after her father-in-law's visit Revenu Québec inspectors came to her home and trespassed on her property to take photos. Copies of these photos were sent to her when she was informed of the fine.

"They could have knocked on our door to say: 'Hey it looks like you have a visitor,' and I would have said: 'No, it's my father-in-law,'" Werhun said.

"That would have been a little bit more civil," she said.

Mylène Gagnon, a spokesperson for Revenu Québec, responded to CBC in an email.

"Certain omissions or actions by a tourist accommodation establishment operator constitute offences liable to fines," Gagnon said.

"Revenu Québec ensures compliance with tax rules and obligations by carrying out inspections in the tourism sector,"  she said.

Online platforms and accountability

The ombudsman also suggested in his report that Revenu Québec was perhaps targeting the wrong people.

The ombudsman said that hosting platforms such as Airbnb should be part of the solution, pointing to the law in France and many other jurisdictions, where not just citizens but platforms themselves are fined if listings appear online without a registration number.

"Assigning all liability to the person who operates a tourist accommodation does not contribute to reducing the number of non-conformities generated by ignorance of the law," the ombudsman's report said.

The ombudsman's recommendations are intended to reduce the number of non-compliant listings, in particular those belonging to "citizens acting in good faith but who are ill-informed," the report concluded.

Neither the Tourism Ministry nor Revenu Québec would comment on this suggestion.

Despite feeling her fine was unfair,  Werhun agreed to pay it during her court appearance Monday.

"I thought taking time away from work to go to a trial for this and what that would do to the stress levels — It would be better just to pay it," she said.

"You end up paying $20,000 in lawyer fees. I can't afford that," she said.