City of Penticton going after unlicensed vacation rentals

PENTICTON – Penticton City Council approved a few changes to the city’s vacation rentals program in a bid to bring unlicensed operations into compliance.

City license inspector Jennifer Wells told council today, June 19, the city believes it is currently licensing only 120 of 300 vacation rentals operating in Penticton and operators have access to many different online advertising platforms, such as VRBO, FlipKey, House trip and Homeaway.

Staff were seeking council support to hire a third party to track down the unlicensed operators, claiming the $8,000 to $18,000 cost would be paid for through an additional $25,000 in licensing and $30,000 in tourism fees to the city.

Wells said the most frequent complaint by those playing by the rules was the desire for the city to maintain a level playing field where all vacation rental landlords operated with a permit.

Staff also made a request to increase fines for non-compliance from $250 to $450, a move Coun. Judy Sentes declared was insufficient. She asked for a bigger increase in fines, commenting a need for the city to make a statement through homeowners’ pocketbooks.

Wells said a provincial act limited the amount the fine could be.

Council agreed to have staff contact a third party business to find and count the number of unlicensed short term rental vacation businesses operating in the city, in addition to increasing the fines for non-compliance.

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