Strata crackdown locks out Airbnb guest

When Kyle MacDonald and his fiancée booked a five-night stay at a luxurious two-bedroom downtown suite through Airbnb, they didn't expect to be caught in the crossfire between the owner and the building's strata.

On their fourth day, the couple's key fob stopped working, and they were locked out of the building.

"Suddenly, we have no access to the unit that we are renting. Our passports are in there, our digital camera, laptop, clothes. We're basically completely out of luck with no solution," he said. 

MacDonald called the Airbnb host, who quickly responded and warned him not speak to the concierge, because it will "get them in big trouble." Instead, he was told to stand by while someone came by with a second key fob. 

The second key fob didn't work either.

MacDonald called FirstService Residential, the property management company, to explain the situation and ask for help but was told they had essentially blocked the owner's access to the building. 

"The person I spoke with from FirstService Residential proceeded to tell me that that this owner has been warned in the past for having short-term Airbnb rentals and that it is against the bylaws, he can't be doing it and that is why they blocked his access to the unit," said MacDonald.

CBC News contacted the AirBnB host, but the interview request was declined.

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MacDonald used to live in Vancouver but recently relocated to California for work and was back in town for a project. Fortunately, his company paid for him to stay at another Vancouver hotel for the remainder of his trip, but MacDonald worries for other visitors who might not have have the same luxury. 

"Thankfully, I lived in Vancouver for many years. I knew the city. We had a backup plan with the hotel, but if someone came to the city for the first time this could be a much worse situation," he said.

MacDonald was able to get access to the building the next day just to pick up his belongings, but he is disappointed with the property management's response. He says he was promised a call back but never received one.

"[They] didn't even reach out to me to follow up to see if I got my goods out of their building, or if I was OK or anything else. They seemed to not really care at all about the situation. They're very focused on the battle they're having with the owner," he said. 

FirstService Residential told CBC that it "takes direction from the strata council regarding the enforcement of the strata corporation's bylaws, including short-term rental bylaws," but they didn't respond to further questions about the incident.

Airbnb says cases like this are rare

In an emailed statement, Airbnb said, "cases like this are extremely rare ... We are reviewing the incident to better understand what happened with the host."

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Airbnb also credited MacDonald with $150 US. 

MacDonald says the incident proves the current system between Airbnb, property managers, homeowners and the City of Vancouver is not working. 

"I think there is potentially a higher risk for people making Airbnb bookings in the City of Vancouver ... This will happen to other people, other people will get locked out of their buildings," he said.

Despite being a supporter and avid user of Airbnb, MacDonald says from now on, he recommends people play it safe and stay at one of the city's hotels.