r/Oshawa • u/No-Turn-1999 • 12h ago
Neighbor has illegal airbnb
My neighbor has moved to a new home and have put up the old one as an airbnb. I know from the city website that their airbnb is not legal- it is not listed in the city approved short-term rental list, the owner is not living on the property, and breaking few other by-laws.
What is the way to raise a complaint to the city, I heard they do not take anonymous complaints, I do not want to give them my name in case my neighbor comes to know which can raise resentments/conflicts.
It is more of a concern to be honest since I do not feel safe with a "new" neighbor every week or month.
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u/Prepare2BeAmazed 12h ago
Email your ward council… it’s election time. They will bend at the hip to make sure their constituents are happy while they are seeking your vote.
From personal experience a quick email explaining the situation, address, link to the Airbnb if you can find it, etc. They will forward it directly to the portion of our municipal government that deals with your specific scenario.
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u/tweep6435 12h ago
What's the address? I'll call and complain, they have no idea who I am lol.
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12h ago edited 12h ago
[deleted]
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u/Rustyboltz91 12h ago
Get an elementary education, like the one that teaches you the difference between Loose and Lose.
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u/Musclecar123 12h ago
Call service oshawa
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u/ScribebircS 8h ago
Talk to them first and tell them if the annoyances and impact to your kids sleep and your quality of life keep up you'll report them, then step up and use your name to report them if they're being a neusance and messing with your life. If you're scared of confrontation then do it with a letter
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u/leon_gonfishun 1h ago
I lived through this and finally moved away. The house across the road from me was bought by someone from Toronto. I met them and they said they were moving here. They then proceeded of have LOTS of contractors in, and as far as I can tell, never stayed there again. (i.e,, they lied through their teeth to me and presumably just turned it into an illegal boarding house) A while later it was obvious they were really running a 'flop house' Different people coming and going all the time; multiple cars all over the place. No idea what the business model was, but it did not seem like AirBnB....it literally seemed like a flop house. Nobody there had any respect for the neighborhood. Nobody was routinely maintaining the grass. Garbage was left out and raccoons were spreading it everywhere.....and when people would leave the house the would look at the mess and walk right by. So yeah, it WAS my fucking business what was going on there. And other neighbors had the exact same concerns. It was sketchy as hell. If you complained about the garbage to the city, they would investigate a week later, after which it may have been cleaned up (or diluted in the neighborhood by animals). The city only mildly cares about these types of scenarios.
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u/Standard-Contest-949 8h ago
Jesus Christ why do you even care? Assuming the place is owned by them they can rent it if they want. Go read a book.
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u/Kentbrockman2 11h ago
What makes it illegal? Honest question.
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u/Kentbrockman2 11h ago
I did Google. Sounds like you can only short term rent your primary residence. So if he owns and lives somewhere else in Canada then I guess this isn't compliant
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u/No-Turn-1999 11h ago
That is correct. Also it is not listed in the city's list of short term rentals.
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u/Kentbrockman2 11h ago
I guess the only issue there is he's evading the 5% tax.
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u/Kentbrockman2 11h ago
The thing is:
Any of your neighbors can go south for the winter and do a short term rental of their house. On your street. They just need to register it with the city and pay the taxes. It's probably easy to get city approval for even after the fact.
He will probably very quickly explain how this is still his primary residence and get approval to do short term rentals. And start paying taxes.
Probably not worth your effort.
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u/Dizzy-Wedding5769 12h ago
Maybe talk to your neighbour first I don’t know. I’m all for community and I get that here in Oshawa. When I lived in Toronto, I didn’t know any of my neighbors, but I know most of the people who live in my street on Oshawa by name. Is not very neighbourly to wrap them out to the police or by law.
Is it causing such a nuisance that it’s affecting your quality of life? If so I understand but I think talking to them makes sense before you do something weird
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u/Anne_Frankenstien 12h ago
It’s not very neighbourly to run an illegal bed and breakfast. Going to the city is the correct thing to do. If he didn’t care for the law when setting up the AirBnb, why would he care about his ex neighbours complaining about it?
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u/No-Turn-1999 12h ago
They had few guests who were openly smoking weed, while the listing specifically says not to. There have been few late night parties as well. I have small children so it makes me concerned. I did talk to my neighbor and I guess they talked to the guests but lately I found out it's not legal which makes me really upset and apprehensive.
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12h ago
[deleted]
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u/jayhasbigvballs 11h ago
They don’t live there anymore. Who cares what they think. They’ve turned OPs community feeling into crap so they can make money.
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u/No-Turn-1999 12h ago
Of course I agree. I am not going to the police, just want to know what my options are.
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u/Illustrious-Line5209 4h ago
Feel safe, Jesus Christ.. give it a rest. Mind your business and move on with your life.
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u/katenotwinslet 12h ago
You have to give your name and contact info when you complain but they dont inform the other party who complained about them.
They call and ask you questions ( at least in my experience) after I submitted a complaint via email .